I Am Sam
by toavoidconversation
Summary: Lily Luna Potter makes a new friend on the train in her first year at Hogwarts. Sam, brought up as a Muggle, knows nothing of her origins. But do friendships and pasts matter when Dark Magic infiltrated the school once more? Next Gen, OC
1. Prologue and Chapter 1

**A/N: Hi there! Some of you may recognise this story title: I have adopted MayFairy's discontinued story, and will be re-vamping and continuing it in my own style. To all of you, welcome, hope you'll stay for the ride! Wow, that was cheesy...**

**Anyway...Here is the prologue and Chapter 1: Hope you enjoy, and please, please review!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter universe, and make no money from this fic, I thank JKR for the original characters, and I thank MayFairy for the original concept, for allowing me to carry on this story of hers, and for sharing her initial ideas with me to help me carry it on.**

Prologue

The man knocked on the wooden door, hoping his nervousness wouldn't be obvious in his slight hesitation between knocks.

"Enter," came the voice from inside.

Taking a deep breath, the man braced himself and pushed open the door. He moved briskly to stand before the high-backed chair which was by the fireplace, before sweeping into a low bow, eyes fixed on the floor.

"My Lord," he said, slightly breathlessly.

"Rise, servant," was the raspy reply, and the man obliged, keeping his eyes lowered out of respect- and no small amount of fear- for his master.

"Well?" the cloaked figure from the chair prompted.

"My Lord, I believe I have it." He chanced a look up at his master, who had sat up straighter in his seat.

"You do?"

"Yes, my Lord...it was not without some...difficulty, but I believe it was a success."

"And you were not detected?"

"No my Lord; I have every reason to believe my anonymity is still intact."

The cloaked figure relaxed into his chair with a sigh.

"That is most fortunate. I was not looking forward to killing my most faithful servant."

The man felt an overwhelming sense of relief that he had not failed his master; he had grown rather attached to his life. He reached into the pockets of his robe and kneeling, he presented it to his master, who reached forward hungrily and grabbed it. The orb glowed a bright purple in his hand as he pulled out his wand.

"Morpheus Evesca" he murmured, the glowing tip pressed against the glass. The two men watched in silent anticipation as a wispy figure emerged from the ball and began to speak.

They listened to the voice for a few minutes before the figure dispersed into smoke.

"M-my Lord?" the servant stuttered. "Is this... the r-relevant prophecy? The one you wished for?"

His master stayed silent for a long time before responding, and it was not with an answer.

"What name did this say? When you took it, what name did it have beneath it? On the shelf?"

The servant frowned. "It had your name, My Lord, followed by a question mark..." He took a deep breath, unsure how his next words would be received. "My Lord, forgive me, but...what does it mean?"

"This is the one we were searching for. And as for what it means, well..." he said, glancing at his servant. "That is not clear yet, but I believe you know what you'll be looking out for this year - old blood, and violet."

* * *

><p>Chapter 1<p>

Sam walked down the train corridor, looking for a compartment. Almost everywhere was full, but she eventually came across one that appeared to be empty. She slid open the door and sat down on one of the cushioned benches, and watched the door slide shut by itself, before unclipping the door of the animal carrier she had been holding. Reaching in she pulled out a tiny black kitten whom she placed on the seat beside her. "There you go," she said to her familiar. "Make yourself comfortable." The little animal immediately set to work becoming acquainted with the small compartment.

Lying back on the seats watching the cat, Sam was content for about thirty seconds. After that, she needed something else to do, and was drawn to the window, where there was huge amounts of chatter from adults and children alike on the platform. She looked out the window, and saw many families, couples and younger siblings who were too young to come to the school yet, standing on the platform.

A certain couple, standing directly in Sam's line of vision, caught her eye. A man with messy black hair and green eyes and a red-headed woman were holding hands, and their eyes were searching for someone, something.

Sam watched him and the woman who she presumed was his wife for quite a while. They still hadn't seemed to have found who they were looking for, when the compartment door slid open. Sam whipped her head around to find someone standing in the doorway. It was a girl, a first year by the look of it, just as Sam herself was. She had bright green eyes and red hair. Her smart jeans and jacket suggested at least a bit of money in the family, and further highlighted the simplicity and age of Sam's worn jeans and T-shirt. She seemed nervous, but her eyes shone with a slight excited anticipation as she looked back at the boy behind her, about the same age, who had the same colour hair as her, but with light brown eyes.

"Excuse me? Do you think we could sit here?" The girl asked.

"Sure. Go ahead." Sam smiled at her, and the two kids came in and sat down. The girl got up and looked out the window, presumably looking for her parents. It seemed she had found them, because she started waving. Sam looked out the window curiously, just wondering who her parents were. She was surprised and amused by the fact that the couple who were waving back to her were the same couple she had been watching earlier. In fact, on a closer inspection, the girl was the perfect combination of her parents, with her mother's crimson hair and delicate bone structure, matched with her father's bright green eyes.

Her mother came over to stand under the window, and the girl opened the window so she could stick her head out and hear what her mum was saying. "Remember what I said, sweetheart; be good, and if your brothers get into trouble- well, if JAMES gets into trouble..." the woman on the platform said to her daughter.

"Mum! I told you, I'm not going to Hogwarts to spy on James!" The girl said with a giggle. "And of course I'll be good! I'll even send Neville your love, because you know James never does!" The woman laughed with her daughter, and called up to the boy.

"You be good too, Hugo!"

The boy smiled. "Of course, Aunt Ginny, you know me. I'll keep an eye on this one too!" he said, ruffling the girl's red hair playfully. She slapped him on the shoulder, but she was laughing all the while.

Sam watched the entire exchange with curious amusement. They all seemed to be related, but the boy and girl weren't brother and sister, as Sam had originally thought. Cousins, it seemed.

"Dad!" The girl shouted suddenly. The man with the dark hair and glasses made his way over to the window as well. He grinned at the two excited children.

"Let us know when you get sorted!" he said. Looking at the boy, he added, "Hugo, I'd try to get into Gryffindor if I were you, your dad might never forgive you otherwise, especially after Rosie ended up in Ravenclaw..." he chuckled. "Your dad wants at least one of his kids to be in his old house."

The boy - Hugo - grinned. "I'll do my best, Uncle. Where are Mum and Dad anyway?" he stuck his head out of the window further and looked up and down the platform. His Aunt and Uncle shrugged.

"Probably saying goodbye to Rose. Have you seen her?" The red-haired woman asked.

"Who, Rose?" Hugo said. "No...not since we arrived here. She's probably with her friends somewhere. Oh well, I'll write to Mum and Dad soon." he smiled. He turned to glance back into the apartment, and suddenly realised Sam was still there. He looked apologetic and embarrased for having forgotten her.

"Oh, sorry, do you need to wave goodbye to anyone?" the red-head boy asked Sam, realising that they had been hogging the window.

Sam shook her head quickly as the girl turned around too to face her. "Oh, Merlin, sorry! How rude of us!"

"Yes, madam, where are your manners?" The woman called up from the window to the girl. She signalled to Sam to come to the window. Hesitantly, Sam got up and approached the woman. "Is it your first time at Hogwarts too?" She asked kindly, and Sam nodded. "Well, you three stick together on the journey, okay? And take care, all of you!" she said warmly, and Sam found herself beginning to like the girl's mother.

The three children nodded, and the train suddenly whistled. On the platform, things suddenly started to become more hectic as people started hurrying on to the train, dragging trunks and lifting cages. The red haired woman and her husband grinned up at the children. "Well, this is it," the man said. "Off to Hogwarts for the first time! Be good! And write to us!"

"Of course we will!" The girl said excitedly. The train began to pull out of the station, and the boy and girl leant further out of the window to wave at their relatives. All down the train, Sam could see arms waving out of the windows. The red-haired woman caught Sam's eye just before the train began to speed up, and gave a small wave. After her initial surprise, Sam managed a small wave and a smile back, before the train pulled clear of the station, round a corner and out of sight. The three children sat down on the seats, Sam picking up her kitten and placing him on her lap.

The girl opposite Sam spoke first.

"I'm so excited to finally be going! It was torture having to watch my brothers go before me but not be able to get on the train myself. Oh, I'm Lily, by the way." she said excitedly. She turned to her companion expectantly, who appeared to be staring into space. After a quick nudge from Lily he jumped slightly, but joined the conversation easily.

"I'm Hugo. Lily's cousin," he said with a warm smile. "What's your name?"

"Sam." Sam said, smiling but not elaborating on the subject.

"Is that short for something?" Lily asked curiously.

"I don't know." Sam said guardedly. Lily looked curious, but seemed to sense Sam's unwillingness to continue with the subject, as did Hugo, though Sam didn't miss the puzzled glance that passed between them.

"Do you know what house you going to be in?" Hugo asked. "Both Lily and my parents were in Gryffindor. So hopefully we are too, although Lily's dad thinks I might be in Ravenclaw..."

"That wouldn't be so bad, Hugo. Rosie's in Ravenclaw, isn't she?" Lily turned to Sam. "Rose is Hugo's sister. I don't mind what house I'm in, as long as it's not Slytherin...I think my Uncle Ron - Hugo's dad - would personally kill me! Even Hufflepuff would be better..." She continued with a giggle, and Hugo smiled softly, rolling his eyes.

"You won't be in Slytherin, Lils...not with your dad!" he said, grinning at Sam, and wondering why she hadn't joined in with the conversation. Sam was looking at the two of them blankly.

"Sam? What's wrong?" Lily asked. "What house do you think you'll be in?"

"Um... sorry, but I really don't know anything about all of this. Apart from the fact that I'm going to a school for witches and wizards, and magic is real, I don't know all the details of Hogwarts, or the wizarding world. You are going to have to either explain it to me, or we could talk about something I do know about." Sam said, rather bluntly. She had been infamous at the children's home for not being afraid to tell the other foster kids, and the people who ran the place for that matter, what she thought of them. It had caused her a lot of trouble, and the bigger guys had beaten her up whenever she said something they didn't like, which had been often. Sam didn't see it as maliciousness, just honesty, which some people seemed to have a problem with.

"You don't know about anything? Are you Muggle-born?" Lily asked, surprised. If she was offended by Sam's matter-of-fact tone, she didn't show it, although Hugo looked a little taken aback for a few seconds.

Muggle-born was one of the few terms Sam did understand. It was a phrase used to describe a person whose parents had no magical background.

"I have no idea." Sam shrugged. By Lily's expression, Sam guessed that this conversation was a little different than she had expected.

"What do you mean? Surely either you are or you aren't. Were your parents wizards?" Hugo interjected, in a manner which suggested that he wanted to get to the bottom of the mystery.

Sam shrugged again. "I never knew my parents' names, what they looked like, or anything about them. I have never met them, and no one else has any idea who my parents are either. So I don't know." she told them. She hadn't anticipated sharing that information so soon, but she decided that as it was going to get out sometime, why not let it be known early on? Hugo and Lily had not been expecting such a frank answer; Hugo became deep in thought, while Lily simply opened her mouth in a large 'O'. She was about to speak, when sliding door of the compartment opened. The two boys standing there were both older than the first-years, and both had jet-black hair. The older one (who looked about fifteen, possibly sixteen) had the exact same colour eyes as Lily, while the other one had warm chocolate brown eyes. Sam realised that these must be more relations of Lily; older brothers, perhaps? They closely resembled Lily's parents. The older one spoke first.

"Hey little sis, welcome aboard the Hogwarts Express!" he said, confirming Sam's suspicions. "We're here to steal Hugo from you. He needs to come and meet the boys, not hang out with girls. Oh, and Al wanted to say hi." He had the air of someone who was popular and knew it.

"Hey Lily. Who's your friend?" The younger boy asked. He looked about thirteen, and looked a little less arrogant than his brother.

"This is Sam. Sam, these are my brothers. The cocky one on the right is James, and the quieter on the left trying to get around James' arm, is Albus. James is in 5th year, and Al's in 3rd." Lily teased, sticking out her tongue at her siblings. They both looked at Sam, eyes sweeping over her old jeans and favourite t-shirt (a bright green one that one that said in electric blue letters, 'the great thing about this t-shirt is that by the time you have finished reading it you realise it says nothing at all.' The mocking humor amused Sam), her tattered sneakers, her blonde pixie-cut, and finally, her violet eyes. Upon seeing the rare colour, Albus whistled, and James swore appreciatively. Sam laughed, although it came out more shy than she had intended.

"_James_! That filthy mouth of yours is why you didn't get made prefect!" Lily admonished, and her brother grinned.

"Hi Sam," James said, once he got over his awe. "Look after my sister, yeah? You girls have fun! C'mon, Hu; There's a couple of decent first-year guys you might like - there's Daisy Finnigan's little brother, some guy called Cauldwell, and a really chatty one called Creevey..." James grabbed Hugo and pulled him away and out of the compartment, and Albus turned to follow.

"Hi Sam! Bye Sam! Bye Lily!" He said, smiling at the girls before running after James. Lily rolled her eyes.

"Boys, eh? I think purple eyes are cool. You're so lucky." she said earnestly. Then she said, "Just because I'm curious, why is your hair so short? I love my hair being long. Don't get me wrong, it really suits you, but..." she hurried to assure her new friend.

Sam didn't take offence, merely reached up to touch her messy spikes.

"Quicker to wash, quicker to dry. Where I come from, the sooner you get out of the shower, the less chance the older kids will beat you up for taking too long. They're not the most patient of people." she said, laughing at the memory of one of the older and meaner bullies at the group home. She started to tell the story to Lily.

"He had been chasing me for one reason or another, and we had been running down one of those sets of stairs that go around in a loop, and if you look down the middle, you can see all the way to the bottom. Anyway, being the skinny weed I am, I squeezed through the gap, and climbed down through the middle. I only realised later just how dangerous it had been, but at the time it was a stroke of genius. But the thing was I was getting away. So he tried to follow me. He got stuck, and it took them hours to get him out. It was hilarious, 'cause he was the laughing stock of the home for quite a while. Naturally, he's hated me since." After the story was finished, Sam laughed harder than she had in a long time. Lily laughed as well, but then she stopped and looked at Sam in a funny way.

"You live in a home? Like a foster home?" She asked, concerned.

"More like a children's home where all the kids get put until we get a foster home, or after we have screwed up ones we have already had." Sam explained, snorting at Lily's horrified expression. "It's pretty rough. The older ones like to pick on the younger ones, and you gotta learn how to fight, or you're gang bashed into a bloody pulp." Sam flexed her arm, showing off her muscles.

"Whoa. It's so strange to think that people go through all that, and the rest of us just get on with our lives and barely realise." Lily said.

"Don't worry about it. It's what happens every day. It's like wizards; so many people go through life without ever knowing they exist!" Lily nodded thoughtfully, and seemed to accept that. Sam tried to steer the conversation into safer waters. "Let's talk about something else. You could try and tell me stuff I'm gonna need to know so I don't look like a complete retard when we get to Hogwarts." Lily perked up a bit, happy to be of some help.

"Okay, well there is Quidditch. That's our sport that everyone follows. Mum played for a national team once, The Holyhead Harpies, before she got pregnant. She was a Chaser...That's my favourite position to play when we play at home. And the Sorting Hat sorts us into houses, like we said earlier, and there's Hogsmeade Village, and the stairs move..." She told Sam lots of things that were useful to know, and the blonde girl stored away as much information as she could.

Partway through the trip, a lady came through with the food trolley.

Sam only had the money from the Hogwarts fund, and after briefly looking at the obscure items on the trolley, she bought a chocolate frog and left it at that. Lily had quite a bit of money, and bought 'Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans', two pumpkin pasties, and a handful of Chocolate Frogs. Lily left the pile of snacks on the seat next to her, and picked up a Chocolate Frog.

"Sorry for getting so much food. I didn't have much of a breakfast, and I didn't bring lunch." She apologised.

"It's fine." Sam mumbled, deciding not to bother mentioning that she had not eaten all day herself, and had not brought food with her. At the childrens' home, it wasn't unusual for the older kids to steal food from the others. One just had to sit there with their piece of toast, or tiny bowl of cereal, and hope the bullies took someone else's breakfast. Unfortunately, Sam's had been stolen this morning before she left for King's Cross.

Sam looked at her frog.

"So, what are these?" she asked, looking the packet over.

"Well, let me show you." Lily opened hers, and a brown frog hopped out. She grabbed it before it could go anywhere. "It's just a charm." She bit into its head.

Curious, Sam opened her own, and found it had a lot of energy; she had to lunge across the seat stop it from disappearing onto the luggage rack, and she dislodged the kitten on her lap, who woke with a start, and unimpressed, curled up in a corner instead. Finally having caught it, Sam sucked on the foot, thinking about how bizarre the situation was.

"What card did you get?" Lily asked, reaching for Sam's wrapper, and pulling out a purple hexagonal card. "Oh, you got Bertie Bott. He's the guy who invented these..."

Lily opened her Every Flavour Beans. She ate one of her beans and then made a face. "What is it?" Sam asked, concerned.

"They mean 'Every Flavour', I tell you. I just got blood flavour. Yuck. When my Dad came to Hogwarts, apparently his headmaster got an earwax flavoured one...Want to try one?" She asked. Sam raised her eyebrows, thinking it sounded like an interesting concept. She put her hand in, pulled out a pale green bean, and popped it into her mouth. "What did you get?" Lily was eager to know. Sam chewed for a few seconds before replying.

"Cabbage, I think." Sam answered, distinctly unimpressed. Lily laughed and offered her three more; the red one was chilli, the white one turned out to be vanilla ice-cream and the curiously speckled yellow and brown one was mustard.

As Lily was gagging on a blue bean which had turned out to be cod liver oil, the compartment door slid open again and a tall mixed-race girl with dark hair stood in the doorway. She was dressed in black school robes and a red and gold badge glinted on her chest. Her hazel eyes flicked in concern to Lily, who looked like she wanted to vomit.

"Lily? Are you alright?" the girl asked worriedly. She looked at Sam. "What happened to her?"

Sam held up the box of beans, and the older girl laughed. "Ah, Lily, what one did you get?"

Lily groaned. "Fish oil..."

The girl in the robes grimaced. "Ew, not nice." she said sympathetically. "Anyway, it's good to see you finally aboard the train! I'm just letting everyone know that we'll be arriving at Hogwarts in about half an hour, so you will need to change into your uniform, okay?" The two first-years nodded, and the girl left, the compartment door clicking shut behind her.

"Who was that?" Sam asked her companion. "How did she know your name?"

"That's another of my cousins, Roxanne Weasley. Her dad is my mum's brother, George. She's a prefect."

Sam said "Oh," before she asked her next question. "Do you have a lot of cousins then?"

Lily giggled. "Do I ever! Yes, I have ten first cousins just from my mother's siblings, and my dad's cousin has a daughter too...but he was an only child so I don't have many relatives on his side..."

Sam whistled. "Wow, you have a big family."

Nodding, Lily replied, "Yeah, the Weasley family is huge. My mum was the youngest of seven."

Sam could only imagine what having such a huge family was like, having never known her family. She looked out of the window, momentarily sidetracked by a sudden feeling of loss, which she had never felt before. She was interrupted by Lily.

"Sam? We need to get changed. We're nearly there, nearly at Hogwarts!"

* * *

><p><strong>So, I hope you enjoyed! If you've read MayFairy's version of the story, I hope you like what I did with it, and you'll stick around to read the next installment!<strong>

**As always, review, it will make my day!**

**See you next update!**

**~toavoidconversation xx**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks to JKR for the world of Harry Potter, thanks to MayFairy for giving me Sam, and for letting me take her on her journey through Hogwarts :)**

**...Chapter 2...**

The train pulled into the station and the students poured off in a sea of chatter and laughter. Sam and Lily stepped down and both of them held on tightly to the handle of the kitten's cage so they wouldn't be separated. They walked towards the husky voice that was calling for first years.

"Firs' years! Firs' years over here... firs' years..." As the girls got closer, they saw the voice belonged to a giant of a man, he was huge and his dark hair was ragged and long, his whole face practically covered by his beard and hair. But his black eyes stood out, and when they saw Lily, they twinkled.

"What would your name be then?" He asked her. Lily looked surprised, but then relaxed.

"Lily Potter, sir. Are you Hagrid?" She asked, smiling.

"Tha' would be me. Yer Harry and Ginny's daughter, aren't yer? The youngest of the brood?" Sam looked at him curiously and wondered how he knew that, but kept quiet. Harry must have been the name of the black-haired man at the station. Lily nodded, a huge beam on her face.

"Dad told me heaps about you! Said you had a dragon, and they had to get rid of it and then they lost heaps of house points and got detentions, and then they had the detention with you, and he saw Voldemort in the forest, killing unicorns!" She said eagerly. What they could see of Hagrid's face went pink. Sam struggled to follow all of Lily's excited babble, and after the word 'Voldemort' she gave up completely; it was just too foreign.

"Well, tha' is all true, but do me a favour and don't tell anyone about tha'..." He said quickly, though they could tell he was pleased. He turned to Sam and looked her over, his eyes kind. "Now, an' who're yer? I like to learn people's names, more friendly, so it is."

"I'm Sam." Sam had always been petite and small, but this was the first time she had actually felt short in a long time, as she craned her neck to look Hagrid in the eye.

"I see, pleased ter meet yer, Sam. What's yer surname?" He asked.

"Haven't got one." she shrugged.

Hagrid raised a thick eyebrow, and was about to ask another question when he realised all the first years were waiting for him, and he got down to business, much to Sam's relief.

"Okay, five to a boat. Get goin', we're runnin' a bit late. C'mon!" He shouted.

The girls walked down the stone steps to see the small row boats. Lily and Sam got into a boat with three other boys.

One was a tiny boy with messy light brown hair, who greeted the with a huge beam. The other two grudgingly stepped aboard the boat, clearly disgruntled at having been separated from their two friends, who had ended up joining another boat with three other first years, a boy and two, who all looked strikingly similar. Sam thought they looked like they would have been somewhat more interesting to travel with than the two sullen boys joining Sam, Lily and Phillip.

The two boys could not have looked more different. One was a solid-looking dark haired boy, who had a round face and tiny black eyes. He appeared distinctly unfriendly, glaring at the lake. His companion, although looking just as solemn, had a sense of interest in his surroundings, and as Phillip chatted incessantly at the girls, he watched them with mild curiosity, with his piercing cerulean eyes through his pitch-black fringe. At one point it seemed he was going to join the conversation, but after a quick glance at his sullen companion, appeared to think better of it.

Sam watched the blue-eyed boy with interest as they crossed the lake, while listening to Phillip's chatter.

"So I've heard about the Sorting Hat, bit how does it actually work? There's no detail in any of the books that I've read; does it actually look inside your head and read your mind, or is it pre-programmed to sort you, and the Sorting's just for added drama...?"

Sam only had a vague idea of what Phillip was talking about, from Lily explaining the Sorting to her on the train.

Lily giggled. "Phillip, it's magic! Does it _have_ to be explained?"

Phillip looked almost offended. "_Everything_ can be explained, Lily, even if it is magic. 'Magic' can't be an explanation, even at a school of withcraft and wizardry."

"I didn't say it couldn't be explained, if you had the time and inclination, you could explain it, but magic has roots so deep that the explanation for its existence is almost unnecessary, as it is as old as life itself...magic is so ancient, it is sufficient as an explanation, don't you think?" Lily reasoned.

It seemed like a highly intelligent conversation, and about a topic Sam really had no knowledge on, so she couldn't tell who was winning the debate that had arisen. However, Phillip appeared to respect Lily's argument, and pressed it no more. The boy Sam was watching was looking at Lily with interest, and he too, seemed impressed with her logical explanation.

"Wow, Lily, you could easily be a Ravenclaw!" Phillip said appreciatively.

"So could you," Lily said with a smile."I hope I end up in Gryffindor though, like my family. Would you like to be Ravenclaw?"

"I hope so, I've read about them and I think that would be the best place for me...I don't think I would fit anywhere else." Phillip said excitedly. He looked at Sam. "Where do you want to be Sorted, Sam?"

Sam shrugged non-commitedly. "I don't know, I haven't really thought about it."

Phillip looked as though he was going to question her further, but they rounded a corner and a huge castle came into view. An awed silence fell across the boat.

"That's the school? We're going to live there?" Sam asked, dumbstruck. It was unbelievably large and ever so slightly daunting.

The large boy looked at Sam for the first time, and his sullen face contorted into a sneer.

"Duh. Where else? Of course this is the school. What are you? Some sort of stupid Mudblood?"

Out of the corner of her eye, Sam saw the blue-eyed boy wince ever so slightly. Lily gasped, and Phillip glared. Sam, however didn't know why they had reacted this way, but she didn't like the boy's tone and she retorted angrily; "What's a Mudblood? Maybe I am. Who are you anyway? Who died and gave you the right to insult complete strangers?"

The boy sat up straighter with a superior air. "I'm Cane Goyle. Mudblood are the spawn of Muggles, who somehow have magic. They're filthy, and shouldn't be here." Cane said, turning his nose up.

Lily frowned. "That's such an outdated view, Goyle. Since Voldemort died -" here Goyle glared at Lily harder - "_no-one_ cares about blood anymore."

"Maybe it's not important to you, Potter, but the Dark Lord had a very good point; how did Muggles get magic? It was stolen."

Phillip clenched his fists, and Lily laid a hand on his arm, as she scowled at Goyle.

"Calm down, Phillip. If anything, he's the scum for thinking that. It doesn't matter, we all have magic. My aunt was the cleverest witch of her year at Hogwarts, _and_ helped destroy Voldemort, and she's Muggleborn."

Phillip smiled at Lily, relaxing slightly. "Hermione Granger?"

Lily grinned. "Hermione Weasley now, but yes."

Phillip beamed. "She's your aunt? Cool..."

Sam had no idea what the relevance was about Lily's aunt, but whatever it was, she was just thankful that it had stopped Phillip from trying to fight with Goyle, and she was not really liking the prospect of falling into the lake just because some boys got into a stupid fight. Besides, judging by the size of Goyle, Phillip would likely not have come out on top.

The five children were mostly silent for the rest of the trip up to the castle, which did not take long. At the other end, they all disembarked and stood at the bottom of a stone staircase, at the top of which was a gate. Cane Goyle and his silent companion had disappeared, presumably to find their friends, and Lily, Phillip and Sam began to ascend the many stairs.

They had got about half way up, still chatting animatedly when they heard some shouts of annoyance. Looking over her shoulder, Sam saw people moving over to one side and shaking their heads in disgust.

"Get out of our way! Move!" Someone shouted from behind her. The culprits were three boys who seemed determined to rush up the steps and reach the top first. This wasn't just a private game between the boys, that much was obvious; they wanted to be at the front to show they were superior. Sam decided this as one of the three boys was Goyle, the boy from the boat.

They were almost up to Sam, Lily and Phillip on the steps, and Sam purposely moved into their path, blocking the way of the closest one. She had experienced people like this in the home, and Sam knew the best way to deal with people like that was to firmly put them back into their place.

In about ten seconds, someone shoved Sam forward.

"Move! Get out of my way." He said. He had short black hair that was combed back perfectly, and quite good-looking, but his eyes were grey and cold. Sam felt an instant dislike towards him. She turned around, and crossed arms.

"Why should I? Maybe I would have if you had said please. But you didn't, so I don't think I will." she said coldly. Then she turned around and kept walking, and was shoved again, this time harder. She turned around again, now angry and not afraid to let him know it. Part of her welcomed a fight; it was a familiar part of her life before her world was turned upside down, and it was something of a comfort to find the opportunity for a fistfight here too.

The boy sneered at Sam, his eyes narrowing. Either side of him stood the two boys from the boat ride, both looking equally mean. The apparent leader, the one in the middle spoke.

"Move, now. I don't know who you think you are, but you'll soon learn that some of us, are at the top of the food chain here. Which means we are superior to you." He jutted his chin out, and Sam saw the blue-eyed boy beside him glance at Lily and a slight frown flicker across his face.

The middle boy spoke again. "So you need to get out of my way, or you will regret it." He hissed.

Sam raised an eyebrow. "I'm not going to move." she stated. "You need to learn that I don't give a donkey's ass about your stupid 'food chain'. I say that if someone wants to go in front, they ask nicely. Try and hit me, and you will be the one that suffers. Come on, hit me. I'm dying for you to try." she told him, smiling, knowing that if he took a swing, he would be the one to suffer.

He swung his fist around, aiming for Sam's nose. He had good aim, but like anyone from the foster care system, Sam was quick. She grabbed his fist and used it to shove his arm behind his back, effectively stopping all movement. He squirmed, but achieved nothing. He yelled and tried to break free, yet no one stopped to help him, they simply continued up the steps, watching the struggle as they walked by. Not even his friends helped. Sam decided to end the dispute; she pushed him down the steps, and watched as he rolled down. She hadn't pushed him hard; he would be able to get up after a few steps, and sure enough, he did.

"You crazy idiot! You'll pay for this!" he called from a few steps down, as his friends rushed down to help him up.

Sam smirked down at him. "Really? I'd love to see how you're gonna make me pay!" She turned to catch up with the rest of the first-years, who had almost reached the top of the steps. Lily was looking at her with an astonished look.

Sam shrugged. "What?" she asked defensively.

"You just shoved him down the steps!" Lily was shocked.

Sam frowned as they climbed the last few stairs. "He tried to punch me! And where I'm from, you should always get the first hit in. He deserved it." Sam stated defensively.

Lily still looked a little unsure, but then she turned and saw the boy trudging up the steps, looking a little dusty and dishevelled, and she had to smile.

"Good point. The expression on his face was really funny." She laughed, and things were comfortable between them once more. Phillip, who had been unnaturally silent up to now, laughed too.

"You have_ got_ to teach me how to do that armlock thing, Sam!" he said in admiration. Sam laughed and told him there was nothing to it.

"Phillip, we're going to Hogwarts. A school for _witchcraft and wizardry_." Lily said matter-of-factly. "Any fighting you need to do will be with a wand!"

"Not when you live with Muggles like I do, or when magic is forbidden outside school until you're seventeen!" Phillip countered, and Lily had to admit he had a fair point.

They had reached the double gates; huge, wrought-iron things. Hagrid stood in front of the gates and they swung open by themselves. Sam was about to ask Lily if she knew how it worked, when suddenly she realised the answer was obvious: magic.

As the cluster of children made their way along the path which lay beyond the gates, a figure approached them from the castle. He was wearing navy blue robes, and had a round, kind face. He gave a warm smile to all of the students as they stopped before him.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I'll take them now." He said with respect to the huge Hagrid.

"No problem, as always, Neville, I mean, Professor Longbottom, sir." Hagrid said. Professor Longbottom smiled again and as Hagrid departed, the professor adressed the pupils.

"I am Professor Longbottom, Deputy Headteacher here at Hogwarts. Welcome, all of you. Before you join your new schoolmates for dinner, you will be Sorted into houses. I shall explain more once we are inside; it is getting rather chilly out here. Come along, first-years!" And with that, he turned and began to make his way to the magnificent castle, the students following closely behind in anticipation.

**A/N: So there you have it; hope you still like it! Please review - I know you're Alerting and Favouriting, but drop a review to let me know why!**

**Feel free to check out my other work as well - I know, I know, shameful advertising of my own work ^_^**

**See you next update!**


	3. Chapter 3

The inside of the castle was just as impressive as the view from outside, and there were several loud intakes of breath from many of the first-years surrounding Sam. They walked up a set of stairs and then came to be in front of a large wooden door. Professor turned to the huddle of children, smiling slightly at their awed faces.

"Now, before the feast, you first years will be sorted into your houses. While you are here, you house will be rather like a family, though of course we encourage houses to mix."

"Of course they do," Sam muttered jokingly in Lily's ear. "If your house is like your family you wouldn't want to have a relationship with anyone in it- incest!"

Lily stifled a giggle and then looked at Sam in a mock stern manner. Professor Longbottom hadn't appeared to have noticed the interruption and carried on.

"If you do well, you will receive points for your house. Break any rules, and you will lose them. The house with the most points at the end of the year wins the House Cup. Any questions so far?"

A pretty oriental girl raised her hand tentatively. The professor turned to her. "Yes, Miss...?"

"Hammond, Sir. Diana Hammond."

Professor Longbottom motioned to her to continue.

"What are the houses, sir? You keep mentioning them, but do they have names?"

Several people looked at Diana incredulously. Some people scoffed and Sam raised an eyebrow at them. One of the scoffers was the boy she'd pushed down the steps earlier.

"She's either stupid, or a Muggleborn," he said, rather loudly, to his sidekicks. Diana blushed.

The professor looked sternly at the group of boys who were laughing. "That's enough, Mr Goyle, and you Mr Dariand, unless you'd like to lose points before you've even been Sorted."

The boys shut up sharply. Professor Longbottom turned back to Diana. "The houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin." He said. "Each house is known for its particular qualities, which you will hear about when we go inside." He addressed all of the children now. "So when we go in, I will call out the names. When I call your name, come up to the stool, place the hat on your head, and you will be given a house. Let's go."

The doors opened and the forty first year students found themselves at the back of a huge dining hall with four long tables running down it with another table on an elevated platform at the far end. From the ceiling (which was somehow resembling the night sky) hung candles, floating in mid-air. It was a long walk down to the far end of the hall, and the other students sitting at the tables had all gone silent as they sized up the new pupils. Lily and Sam kept close to each other as Professor Longbottom led the way. Where Lily seemed perfectly at ease under the scrutiny, Sam felt uncomfortable, and it seemed Hugo who was in front of them felt the same; the tips of his ears were a burning red. As they reached the front table, Sam noticed the stool with the hat on and was just wondering if it really was as easy as putting it on, when she heard whispers from her left.

"Go Lily and Hugo!"

"And Sam!"

"Yeah, and Sam!"

Turning towards the noise, Sam saw that the whispers had come from James and Albus, Lily's older brothers. Lily glanced over to them and gave a small smile, and when Sam looked over to them, Albus gave her a beaming grin. Sam couldn't help grinning back; somehow Albus had made her feel more at ease.

Professor Longbottom cleared his throat, and everyone turned their attention to him. Sam found herself liking the gentle professor, and she hoped that whatever he taught, he would be one of her teachers.

"When I call your name, walk up here. I'll put the Sorting Hat on your head, and you will be sorted." He told them. But he didn't start reading the names. Everyone in the room seemed to be watching the hat, like they were expecting it to do something. So Sam stared at it too. Then it did do something. The two patches on the front starting looking more and more like eyes, and the rip at the brim opened like a mouth. And just when Sam thought it couldn't possibly hold any more surprises, the Hat burst into song.

_Gather round and listen all,_

_Whether you be short or tall._

_I've been around much longer than any of you,_

_Because I have an important job to do._

_One day the founders of this school,_

_Realised that they needed a tool,_

_To Sort you students into the houses select,_

_So Godric Gryffindor made me, a hat of superior intellect._

_And so I sit upon your head,_

_And look into your brain asking to be read._

_From there I see which house for you is best,_

_And then your fate decides the rest._

_So which house should I choose for you?_

_Listen close and it may give you a clue..._

_Perhaps Gryffindor, brave and strong,_

_You may be picked to join the mighty red throng._

_Or maybe Ravenclaw will become your haven,_

_If knowledge and truth is what you're craving._

_Or could Hufflepuff be right for you,_

_If you are kind and your soul is true._

_Slytherins stand cunning and_ _proud,_

_You may be picked to join this ambitious crowd._

_Whichever one it might be,_

_Welcome to the Hogwarts family!_

_Try me on!_

_I'll sort you out!_

_For I'm the hat!_

_And that is that._

The song was followed by thunderous applause, while Sam and a few other first years stared at the hat in wonder. Professor Longbottom opened a scroll and read something off it.

"Abbott, Charlotte."

There was a brief moment of silence. Then a timid looking girl with strawberry blonde stepped forward. Professor smiled at her reassuringly and gestured to the stool. After hovering next to it hesitantly for a second, she sat down. As the professor approached her with the Sorting Hat, with every inch it came closer she became increasingly nervous. The Professor placed it on her head before she could change her mind. After a few moments of tense silence, Suddenly the rip at the seam burst wide open.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" It shouted. One of the tables stood up and cheered, while the others clapped politely. Charlotte took off the hat and joined the cheering table, looking relieved, and the Hufflepuffs all congratulated her.

Now that the first person had been sorted, there was a calmer atmosphere among the first years. Professor Longbottom ran through the list rather quickly now.

"Abercrombie, Jamie."

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Boot, Sara."

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Blackwater, Elise."

"SLYTHERIN!"

Now every house had one new pupil.

"Creevey, Colin Junior."

The blonde boy looked extremely enthusiastic as he clambered up into the stool.

"GRYFFINDOR!" Colin looked pleased with himself, and this didn't change despite his tripping up as he walked to the Gryffindor table.

"Cauldwell, James."

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Cresser, Martin."

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Corner, Jackson."

"RAVENCLAW!"

Robert Davies ended up in Ravenclaw, much to the relief of one girl already on that table, who appeared to be his elder sister.

"Dariand, Sol." The boy Sam had pushed down the steps stepped forward. The hat took less than a second to choose Sol's place.

"SLYTHERIN!" He got off the stool to join the Slytherin table, and looked very pleased with himself.

"Dorny, Max."

"SLYTHERIN!"

Michael Dowens and Hannah English were sorted into Hufflepuff, then the professor called "Finnigan, Aidan."

The sorting hat took a long time to decide for Aidan. After at least a minute, the hat had made up its mind.

"GRYFFINDOR!" Aidan looked relieved as the Gryffindor table erupted in cheers once again.

Francesca Fletcher and Sol's sidekick Goyle were new additions to the Slytherin table along with the Greengrass twins, Bella and Stephanie. Oliver Goldstein and the oriental girl Diana Hammond were sorted into Ravenclaw.

"So she wasn't stupid after all, was she?" Lily muttered to Hugo, reminding him of what Dariand had said earlier.

"Jordan, Kiara."

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

A pretty girl with golden brown curls, called Carina Malfoy, was sorted into Slytherin next. Lily snorted. "But of course," she mumbled. Sam raised an eyebrow questioningly, and Lily said, "I'll explain later."

There was now just under half of the first years left unsorted. The Professor called, "McCarty, Sam."

Just like everyone Sam looked around to see who would take the stool next, although she was pretty annoyed that someone had the same name as her, because it just made things confusing.

No one came forward.

"McCarty, Sam?" Professor Longbottom said again, and a few people started to whisper.

Sam was starting to get a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. Why did the name Sam McCarty sound so familiar to her?

Then it hit her, and she mentally kicked herself. When the headmaster had come to her children's home to tell her she was a witch, he'd said he would choose a surname for her to prevent any confusion in class, where many of the students were addressed by their last name. He said he would choose one that was quite unobtrusive and didn't carry any meaning in the wizarding world. He'd written to Sam two days ago to let her know that he'd chosen the name 'Sam McCarty', and it would be in her interest to remember it.

Which of course she hadn't. She'd told anyone who'd asked that she didn't have a surname, which was true enough, but in doing so she had forgotten that of course as soon as she reached Hogwarts, the name 'McCarty' would be attached to her name.

She hadn't realised it would be used so soon, before she got a chance to get used to it.

Sam stepped forward, and the fact that everyone's eyes were on her was not exactly helping her confidence. Professor Longbottom looked at her with a relieved expression and Sam threw him an apologetic smile. She sat on the stool and flicked her eyes up to watch as the hat settled on her head, obscuring her view of the Hall. She jumped slightly when she heard the Sorting Hat's voice projected into her mind.

"Now you are an interesting one. You haven't really belonged anywhere before, have you? No need to worry about that now, though I do see a lot of confusion here. Though shocking amounts of bravery, no doubt about that."

"Thanks," Sam thought with a smile. She considered herself brave too.

"Not exactly pride, but a thirst for justice...A very Gryffindor quality..."

Sam hoped that the Hat would choose Gryffindor. She thought about the kindness that house had already shown her: Albus Potter, Roxanne Weasley, even Lily's parents, who were Gryffindors of times past. Sam thought she would feel quite at home there.

The Sorting Hat continued. "Hmm, you've got the potential of a quick and brilliant mind too... you would do well in Ravenclaw, girl..."

Sam swallowed, thinking about Phillip and Lily's highly intellectual debate on the way to the school. If Phillip was a typical Ravenclaw, she didn't think she would fit in there; they probably wouldn't appreciate her occasional recklessness.

"And goodness, what's this? A fierce loyalty of those close to you..."

A picture of Annabel, a tiny girl from the children's home swam into view. Annabel was six years younger than Sam but was her closest friend there, and Sam was always very protective of the little girl.

"...So that would be welcomed in Hufflepuff...although your drive to get what you want would place you in Slytherin..."

"No!" Sam thought fiercely. She refused to be placed in a house with the likes of Dariand and Goyle, no matter how ambitious she seemed. If that happened, she would leave Hogwarts.

"Aha, you're not the first person to think that." the Hat said in an amused tone. "Well, all things considered, as long as you're sure Ravenclaw's not for you..."

"I'm sure," Sam asserted.

"Then I think you will have to be..."

"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat finally decided after much debate, and Sam grinned in relief. She'd been scared for a second that the Hat would choose Hufflepuff or Slytherin instead after she'd rejected Ravenclaw. The Gryffindor table erupted in cheers and applause. Sam went down to sit in the space between Lily's two brothers, and watched the rest of the first years get sorted. The next four, three boys and a girl became Hufflepuffs, and the next girl a Ravenclaw. Then the quiet boy with the cerulean eyes who was in the boat with Sam on the way over was up. His name turned out to be Tristan Peake.

"Another Peake?" Albus groaned from beside Sam, but he didn't elaborate any further. Tristan was sorted into Slytherin after a long silence and everyone at the Gryffindor table rolled their eyes.

"What took the Hat so long to decide? He's a Peake, of course he's in Slytherin!" James said while the Slytherins cheered.

"Potter, Lily!" As soon as her name was called, whispers and hushed voices broke out.

"Is that Harry Potter's daughter?"

"It has to be her."

"That's so cool!"

"Makes you wonder what would have happened back in the day when he was the one being sorted, doesn't it? They probably all fainted." Albus whispered into Sam's left ear, as Lily made her way up to the stool, unfazed by the whispers. "Still, I kind of wish that they would all mind their own business. Yes, my dad was the biggest hero of the century, oh wow, he actually got a life and had kids, and yes, I'm one of them. Get over it, and get on with your own life." Sam nodded, though she was still unsure as to exactly what Harry Potter had done to warrant the title 'the biggest hero of the century'.

"People are way too nosy for their own good." Sam agreed. "Though it doesn't seem to bother Lily."

"Yeah, she's always been quite calm over it all. Unlike James, who milks it for all it's worth..."

Here James grinned at his brother and winked at Sam. "I say, if you've got it, flaunt it!" James said.

Albus rolled his eyes. "I don't like it much, to be honest. It makes me paranoid that people are just talking to me because of who my dad is."

They watched the Lily's Sorting quietly. The Hat took a long time to decide her house, too, and that made Sam feel a little better about hers taking so long.

Finally the hat shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"

The Gryffindor table burst into the loudest cheers possible. James yelled "GO LITTLE SIS!" but that wasn't anything compared to the mad red headed twins (that were clearly related to her) who jumped up and did a funny tribal looking dance, while chanting, "LILY! LILY! LILY!"

Lily came over to the Gryffindor table, a relieved grin on her face, as she got hugs and high-fives from her various family members. "Bloody Hat wanted to put me in Hufflepuff!" she said indignantly as the cheers died down. The twins made sounds of outrage.

"If the Hat had done that, we wouldn't have got the full set of Potters!" one of them said.

Lily raised an eyebrow. "Oh, so we're just collectors' items are we?" she asked, but there was a twinkle in her eye. She sat between Sam and James, before turning to Sam and giving her a hug. "Same house!" she squealed. "Though it took a few choice swear words to get me here..." Sam grinned and hugged her back.

The Sorting went past in a blur for Sam after Lily had been Sorted. She clapped for everyone and stood and cheered if a new Gryffindor was announced. Morgan Queen was another new Gryffindor girl, and then a set of triplets were Sorted. Only one of them, Erin Ragvedo, became a Gryffindor. The other two were put into Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw.

"Thomas, Matthew."

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Their boat-mate, Phillip Turner got his wish granted and was Sorted into Ravenclaw. Sam gave him an extra loud cheer, as did Lily.

Eventually it was Hugo's turn. Lily and all of her relatives watched with baited breath.

"GRYFFINDOR!" Hugo grinned and took great pleasure in joining his relatives, who were all whooping and cheering. He sat down on the other side of Albus, smiling.

There were only two more people after Hugo.

"West, Shania." The girl had dark blonde hair down to the small of her back, and huge round eyes that were completely covered by the Hat.

"GRYFFINDOR!" Shania delicately jumped off the stool and sat with Morgan Queen a bit further down the table.

"Zabini, Royce."

"SLYTHERIN!" He joined his house, and sat by Goyle, Dariand and Tristan Peake.

And so the Sorting came to an end.

Professor Longbottom removed the Sorting Hat, the scroll and the stool with a flick of his wand. Sam was able to take a closer look at the Staff Table now, without the distraction of the Sorting. She recognised Hagrid on the far left and Professor Longbottom near the middle, but did not recognise any of the others until her eyes fell on the man sat right at the centre of the table. She identified him as Professor Rondinio, the headmaster of the school. He had been the one who changed Sam's life, by coming to see her and explaining to her that she was a witch. He looked exactly as she remembered that day...

* * *

><p><em>"Quit it, Stubbs." Sam said, not even bothering to look at the boy, who somewhat resembled a cross between a pig and a beach ball. She heard a thump followed by a small girl's piercing scream which she instantly recognised to be Annabel's; she had heard it far too many times.<em>

_"Leave her alone!" Sam turned my head around to yell at him this time. Stubbs dropped the tiny girl and turned to glare at the violet-eyed blonde while Annie ran off as fast as she could, hid under a table nearby and watched in fear._

_"You got something to say to me, Sam?" His voice was low and dangerous, and his dark eyes watched the girl carefully, narrowing slightly._

_"Let me see." Sam said, unfazed as she approached him slowly. "I could tell you that you smell like a cow pat. I could tell you that you look like the wrong end of a dog, and act like it too. I could tell you that you are a bullying faggot. But perhaps it is just easier to let my fist do the talking."_

_And with that, she punched him in the face._

_Roaring with fury, Stubbs made to punch her back, and rather predictably perhaps, it quickly turned into a brawl, especially when the bully's gang (who up until then had been lingering in the background) got involved._

_Sam was surrounded by hulking, violent male teenagers, so she went for the 'reduce your opponents' tactic, and just kicked a couple in the balls and flung a couple of headshots to get some breathing room._

_Stubbs' main downfall was his huge hulking figure. Sam was small and sprightly, and it was hard for him to land an effective blow. But just as Sam attempted a fairly risky move to reach up and grab Stubbs' ear, the boy used his size to his advantage, and grabbed Sam round the waist before lifting her into the air and then bringing her banging to the floor with a painful amount of force. Sam was dazed by the shooting pains in her knees for a few seconds before she began wriggling for freedom. Stubbs held her by the hair as he turned around to sit on her..._

_"Oi! Kids, stop it right now! I mean it, break it up!" The authority-filled voice of Mrs McEady yelled at them, like always. The minor distraction gave Sam a second to suddenly drop flat to the floor to force Stubbs to lose balance. She leapt up and the fight was once more underway, as the two of them ignored Mrs McEady's shouts._

_One of Stubbs' thugs who appeared to have recovered from his earlier affliction grabbed Sam from behind, and her back was pressed into a sweaty chest as the thug held her tight while Stubbs let loose punch after punch, until her abdomen felt like it was on fire._

_"Harvey! Put. Her. Down! Marshall! Stop hitting her right this second!'' Came the voice of Mrs McEady again. "I'm so sorry about this." Sam heard her say to someone else, as her ears began ringing. Stubbs had moved on to her head and face now. She licked her lips and tasted the familiar rust and salt flavour that was blood. But Sam wasn't down and out just yet. Sam raised her foot and crunched it down on her captors toe as hard as she could. The arms around her waist loosened momentarily, and that was all she needed. Just as Stubbs' fist flew towards her once more she dropped to the ground and there was a satisfying crunch and a yelp as Stubbs broke his own guy's nose._

_Sam rolled away from the two boys and then jumped up, ready in a fighting stance once more, ignoring the throbbing in her stomach and the blood dripping from her busted lip._

_"Sam! Boys! Cut it out now. I mean it." Mrs McEady had placed herself between the two irate kids. Sam leaned around the lady to glare at Stubbs._

_"You hurt her again and your balls will be so busted that you'll need a machine to piss for the rest of your life, got it?" she snarled. Then she pulled the finger on him. Stubbs flinched as if he'd been zapped by an electric shock, and a look of confusion crossed his face. Sam glared at him again and he and his gang backed off up one of the staircases._

_"Sam! Young lady, you really need to sort out your fighting." Mrs McEady scolded her with a reprimanding frown._

_"And my language, and even my hand gestures...I know, Mrs M." Sam sighed in exasperation. "And you know that I'm only protecting the little kids. They can't stand up for themselves against bastards like Stubbs. We've had his conversation about a million times. So unless you get to the point, and I'm pretty sure you don't have one, I am going to check on Annie."_

_But before Sam could turn around and leave, McEady started to talk again._

_"Actually Sam, I do." She said seriously. "There is someone here to see you."_

_For the first time Sam noticed the man standing next to her. Her first impression was that he was slightly strange, though she couldn't figure out why. He appeared to be in his twenties, and his light chestnut brown hair wasn't neat, but somehow didn't seem untidy. It flopped over his face a little. He had a light tan and his eyes were a attractive dark green, and watching Sam with interest, although there was a hint of concern or worry in his gaze._

_"Are you lost?" Sam asked incredulously. He laughed good naturedly, and flashed her a white smile. He seemed a bit too perfect, but Sam couldn't bring myself to dislike him for it for some reason._

_"No. You're Sam, right?" He asked kindly._

_"The one and only." Sam sighed. "So, um, can I ask-" before she could finish her question something small had tackled her midsection._

_It was Annabel._

_"Hey, Annie." Sam scooped her up settled the girl on her hip. She was very small and light for a five year old._

_"Thanks." She whispered._

_"For what, sweetie?" Sam asked her gently._

_"For fighting Stubbs." She said with a tiny lisp that was adorable on someone so young. She looked at Sam and a little frown crossed her face. She gently touched her fingers to the older girl's lips and when she pulled them away, the tips of them were red._

_"He hurt you." Her voice was surprised, and her chocolate brown eyes were sad._

_"I'm fine. I'm worried about you though. Did he hurt you?" Sam pushed Annie's long mahogany hair out of her face and looked her over for injuries. Annie shook her head and smiled at her, then cast a curious glance at the man, who had been watching the exchange with a small smile._

_"So, what is going on then?" Sam turned back to the strange man. I really had no idea what this could be about._

_"Mrs McEady said that the two of us could talk upstairs." He suggested smoothly._

_"Um, okay." Sam said slowly, thinking it was all a bit weird, and she headed for the nearest set of stairs._

_"Are we showing him our room?" Annie breathed the question in Sam's ear as she turned around on the second step up, and looked at the man whose eyes were flickering with an expression of nervousness and concern._

_"I don't mean to be demanding, but I must ask that the girl stays downstairs. I must speak to Sam, and Sam alone." He looked apologetic, but had a quiet authority from which Sam got the impression that she couldn't argue with._

_Sam looked from Annie to the man and then back again. Annie was the only person in the world she cared about, but as long as the meeting with the mystery man didn't take too long, Sam knew the little girl would be all right._

_"Okay," she agreed with a nod._

_She put Annie down. "This won't take long, I'll be back soon, okay?" she said to her before giving her a quick hug._

_Annie's huge round eyes looked up at Sam, showing complete trust. "Okay." Annie said, and ran off._

_Sam looked back at the stranger before proceeding to climb the stairs. The man followed. As they reached the bathroom Sam said "Hang on a sec," and went over to the sink. She could feel the man's eyes on her as she washed the blood from her face and out of her mouth._

_Then she led him to the dormitory which she shared with Annie and six other girls, all in bunk-beds lined across one wall. She went in and made her way to the third bed along, and motioned to the man to sit down, before perching on the bed opposite him._

_"Thank you." He said._

_"For a start, what's your name? And what exactly did you want to talk to me about? You're really strange." Sam blurted out, and scowled when he chuckled._

_"My name is Professor Alandor Rondino, and I definitely not normal by your standards. But what specifically were you referring to?" He inquired._

_"Professor?" I echoed. The word was strange._

_"Yes."_

_"Okay then, Professor...Well, for a start, you're nice to me. No one is nice to me, and especially not people like you. It just isn't normal, how you act." Sam said offhandedly._

_"People like me?" He repeated, smiling._

_"Yeah. You know, adults who are all rich and successful. Or just any adults, really. Adults don't like me because I scare them. I look at them and my eyes freak them out. They treat me like dirt and wonder how someone so young could have so much anger. They think they don't like me because I am bad tempered and violent, and that I don't have any manners and don't know what polite is." Sam wasn't sure why she was divulging all of this to the strange professor, but it felt oddly liberating._

_"You think they are wrong." It was not a question._

_"They're scared of me. I don't know why. They don't even know why. Some of them don't even realise that they are. There's something about me that repels people. Annie is the only person who cares about me, and vice versa. So why aren't you scared? You're curious about me, and intrigued for some strange reason, but you are not scared. Why?" I asked him, hoping he would have the answers to the questions she'd been asking herself for so long._

_"It takes a lot to scare me, Sam. That you will learn." He said, his voice the most serious it had been yet. "You are very perceptive, you know. You aren't savage, nor dangerous, at least not in the way they think." He added as Sam rolled her eyes. "You could tell that I am studying you, which I am."_

_"Why? Why even be interested in me at all? Are you some sort of therapist? Because I'm not interested." she huffed._

_"No. I'm a teacher." He assured the girl, and she relaxed a little, before another question popped into her head._

_"Why is a teacher like you talking to me? I never stuck around in school long enough to get particularly good at anything. It wasn't like the work was hard, but I just always moved around." she protested._

_"I want to offer you a place at my school." Professor Rondino said simply. Sam's brain stopped coming up with ideas and she just stared at him._

_"Why me? I'm nothing special."_

_"If only you knew." He said quietly, and shook his head. "Hogwarts is a very different sort of school than one you would be used to, Sam." He looked her in the eye._

_"What do you mean by different?" she asked suspiciously. His eyes twinkled._

_"This is always the tricky part, of course." He said vaguely, almost as if he was talking to himself. He pulled out a fancy looking stick and pointed it at the door. "Silencio!" He said firmly. This took Sam by complete surprise, and had her panicked slightly, though it didn't show outwardly. He wasn't some fancy teacher, he was some kind of magic fantasy freak. She found herself shuffling backwards on the bed a little._

_"What the heck did you just do? Is that supposed to be a wand or something? See I knew something was up, you're a bloody loony." she said angrily, covering up her nervousness._

_"It's just a simple silencing charm, to stop eavesdroppers." Rondinio said calmly. "Yes, it is a wand, and if you'll give me a minute then I will explain." He said as if nothing significant had happened. "Hogwarts is a school of magic. I'm here to offer you a place there."_

_"Even if that were true or possible – which by the way it's not – why me?" She asked, still not seeing his angle._

_"You're a witch, Sam." He fiddled with the stick in his hands._

_"I'm a what?"_

_"You're a witch."_

* * *

><p>Sam smiled slightly as she remembered the time Professor Rondinio told her the news. She hadn't believed him at all, and had hurled a shipload of verbal abuse at him, which made her slightly embarrassed to remember now; the professor had been so polite and calm, listening calmly to her rant before proceeding to turn her battered copy of 'Robinson Crusoe' into a mouse, as an example of Transfiguration. It hadn't taken much to convince Sam after that; the prospect of getting out of the home, away from Stubbs and Mrs McEady, possibly forever, was too great to turn down. Her only regret had been that Annie was too young to come with her, and indeed they didn't even know if she possessed magical powers. However, Rondinio had promised to place Annie with a kind Muggle family, and so once that had been put in place, Sam had been content that Annie was safe, and she agreed to come to Hogwarts.<p>

That same man now stood before them all, in deep purple robes with a red and silver trimming. His chestnut brown hair flopped down across his face, and he pushed it out of his eyes as he stood up to address the school, in his calm yet warmly pleasant voice.

"To those who are new here, welcome to Hogwarts!" he said, arms open wide. "To older students, welcome back! I am sure it is going to be a year of great achievement. But more on that later. I'm sure you are all starving-" Just as he said that, Sam's stomach growled loudly, and Lily let out a giggle. "-So all that can wait. Dig in!" He grinned at us and sat down with the other teachers. Everyone let out a cheer and happy chattering started throughout the Great Hall.

"Thank Merlin, it's about time!" Lily exclaimed. "Oh! Look at all this! There's steak and potatoes, awesome..."

Sam turned back to the table to figure out what she was talking about, and her mouth literally dropped open. The golden plates in front of the students that had been previously empty were now filled with every kind of food imaginable.

There was more food than Sam had seen in all her meals put together for the last eleven years, and definitely looked more appetising. As people around her dug in, Sam decided she wasn't dreaming, and started to fill her plate with a bit of everything.

"You're Sam, aren't you?" Said a slightly older red headed boy that was sitting close to Sam. He was one of the twins who had appeared to be related to Lily.

"I'm sure she is. She's the one that didn't know her own name." said the other twin with a playful smirk.

"I know my own name." Sam said with an air of indignation. One of them snorted.

"Didn't look like it." He noted.

"My name is the easiest name to remember that even exists." she scowled at them and then paused to take a mouthful of potatoes.

"Sam McCarty? Granted, it is fairly simple. But there are simpler names." The second twin disagreed.

Sam shrugged. "That's not my name."

The twins looked like they weren't going to comment, but curiosity got the better of them.

"What do you mean it's not your name? The list is never wrong. By the way I'm Fred. That's George, but we call him Georgia 'cause he's a bit of a pansy,'' said the first twin, earning himself a slap about the head from his brother.

"So your name isn't Sam, then?" asked George.

"The list was manipulated by Professor Rondinio. I am Sam. Not Sam McCarty, just Sam." she told them firmly.

"Well then, what is your surname?" enquired Fred.

"I don't have one. I'm just Sam. Nothing more, nothing less. Sam." she stressed, and went back to eating.

But now Lily joined the conversation.

"So you don't have a last name at all? I mean, you told me you didn't know your parents, but that seems a bit extreme." Lily said, not unkindly, just curiously. Sam reluctantly put down her fork, and turned to face her and the twins.

"Lily, how could I? Our last names come from our parents. I don't have any. The only name they left for me was Sam. I'm Sam." she said gently, most certainly not wanting a pity party.

"Hang on a minute. If you don't have a last name, then where did the list get McCarty from? Maybe that is your real last name!" George said excitedly.

Sam shook her head. "The professor said he would pick a Muggle surname for me, 'cause it would make me 'fit in' more. But I don't want to be called McCarty any more than necessary. Hopefully today is the last time."

Fred chuckled. "Ah, you'll be lucky. Here at Hogwarts, surnames are used a lot. It's always ''Weasley!'' this and ''Weasley!'' that..."

From across the table, Albus chipped in. "That's because no-one can tell you and George apart, Fred!" he said with a smile, and everyone laughed at Fred's pained expression.

"I don't see why it's so difficult to tell us apart!" Fred pouted, but everyone could see the mischievous twinkle in his eye as he continued. "I mean, everyone knows that George has a mole on his bal-"

Their section of the table erupted into laughter as George slapped his brother upside the head once more. Lily buried her head in her hands in mock despair. Sam smiled. She liked Fred and George. In fact, all of Lily's extensive family were turning out to be really fun.

She turned back to her plate to finish off the last few bites of Yorkshire pudding before all of the food magically disappeared, and Sam was once more amazed as a huge range of desserts appeared before her. Dessert was a rare, if not non-existent occurrence at her old home, so at Hogwarts it was as if she'd gone to heaven. She didn't know what most of the desserts were, but Sam was determined to sample them all, despite feeling pretty full from the first course.

As she heaped spotted dick, jam roly poly and bread-and-butter pudding into one bowl, then proceeded to fill another bowl with chocolate cake, apple crumble and ice cream, Lily laughed.

"It's not going anywhere, Sam. Slow down. Geez, you'd think you had never seen food before." She said, smiling.

"This is the first thing I've eaten all day, Lily, give me a break!" Sam retorted, downing the ice cream at the rate of knots. Out of the corner of her eye, Sam saw her friend's small frown pass across her delicate features and continued to finish her desserts. She didn't want to dwell on her past, now the present was so deliciously sweet. She managed to scoop out the last spoonful of cake and and put her spoon down with a satisfied sigh.

"That was amazing. Is the food like this every day?" she asked Lily, who shrugged. Albus answered instead.

"No, but we will have the same for Halloween, and the last day of the school." he said. Sam's face dropped slightly. "But the food is still really good anyway, you'll never go without!" He added quickly after seeing her expression. Sam laughed.

"Albus, anything is better than what I am used to. You can't even imagine what my idea of a normal meal is." she smiled at the raven-haired boy.

Albus' reply was cut off by the sound of metal tapping glass. The Headmaster was standing and calling for the school's attention.

The Hall became silent, and Professor Rondinio smiled at them all.

"So, before I say anything else, I would like to introduce the Head Boy and Girl to you this year. Our Head Boy is Louis Weasley of Gryffindor." An incredibly good looking guy with light brown hair stood up from further down our table. People clapped for him, especially the Gryffindors and Lily's family were whooping wildly. Lily clapped as well, but there was a strange look on her face.

"Another one of your many relatives?" Sam asked her quietly.

"Yep. He's a bit of a prat though. Very much like our Uncle Percy, that one." She muttered.

"Uncle Percy?"

"A rather serious and ambitious Uncle of mine with no sense of humour. Mind you, last time he made a joke the person who laughed died half a second later, so perhaps you can't blame him." Lily sighed.

"Are you serious?" Sam frowned.

"Yep." Lily said glumly.

"You can't be."

"Completely."

"Who was it?" Sam asked. Lily didn't have to ask what she meant.

"My uncle, Fred. Percy's brother." She said.

"God, that's terrible." Sam gasped. Lily nodded, and Sam suddenly realised what the red head had said. "Wait, your uncle was called Fred too?" she asked, glancing over at the twin of the same name.

Lily nodded. "Yeah," she began to explain. "Y'see, there was Fred and George, my uncles, and they were twins. Uncle Fred died and Uncle George got married and had kids; Roxanne, and the twins, Fred and George, named after him and his own twin. They're just as much trouble as the first set of twins, who were notorious prankers, and set up a joke shop together. Those two-" she waggled her fingers at the boys- "They prank everyone within distance, and get in just as many detentions. They are aptly known as Fred and George the second." Lily explained.

Sam nodded in understanding. Twin pranksters? Things around here would be very interesting...

The applause for Louis had pretty much died down, and now the Professor was talking again.

"And the Head Girl is Isabella Peake, from Slytherin." A tall, and frankly quite stunning girl with waist-length dark hair stood at the Slytherin table, to slightly less applause than Louis. James Potter groaned, and Sam looked at him curiously.

"Peake?" she asked to no-one in particular. "Is she related to the Peake guy who just got sorted into Slytherin?"

Everyone nodded. Sam asked, "Don't you like them?"

Albus pulled an odd face. "I'll explain it later, 'kay?" Sam smiled in thanks. She liked Albus, he seemed to understand her need to catch up on everything going on.

After Isabella had sat down, Professor Rondinio continued.

"We have two new members of staff joining us this year; may I introduce Professor Helborne, who will be teaching Charms to replace our dear Professor Flitwick, who retired at the end of last year..." A tall man with small dark eyes and thin lips rose from the table with a small frown. Sam couldn't say she liked the look of him much. Lily murmured in Sam's ear, "He looks grumpy..."

Sam considered that an understatement.

The applause died down and Rondinio introduced the other new member of staff. "And please also give a warm welcome to Professor Gilbert, who will be teaching Flying to the First Years and will also be the official Quidditch referee at Hogwarts."

An athletic, nearly white-skinned man with close-cropped chestnut hair stood, and grinned at all of them. He could not have been more different than Professor Helborne, who was still frowning.

"In addition," the Headmaster said as the noise died down, "I would like to inform the students of Ravenclaw House that their new Head of House will be Professor Helborne here."

A lot of the Ravenclaws looked less than pleased at that announcement.

Next to Sam, Fred muttered, "And I thought he looked like a Slytherin..."

"I would now like to remind all of you of a few things," Rondinio continued, "The Forbidden Forest is out of bounds to all students, and that no products from Zonko's or Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes are allowed in the school. First years are not allowed their own broomsticks and Hogsmeade Village is out of bounds to first and second years. That's about it, I'm afraid. Off to bed you go!" He smiled and clapped his hands, which seemed to make the huge doors open at the back of the Hall. Sam clasped her hands over her ears in an attempt to block out the noise of wood on stone floor as everyone got out of their seats.

"Gryffindor First Years!" could be faintly heard over the babble and Sam saw Lily's cousin Roxanne standing at the end of the table with a chocolate-skinned boy, waving the First Years over to them.

The small congregation of new students gathered at the end of the table. Sam stood next to Lily and Hugo, as well as the triplet who'd ended up in Gryffindor, and Aidan Finnegan. Roxanne and the other boy waited until all ten students were in listening range before speaking.

"Welcome, First Years, my name is Roxanne Weasley and this is Leonard Thomas." The boy raised a hand in greeting. "We are the Fifth Year Gryffindor Prefects, and we're going to show you to our Common Room. If you ever have any problems or questions this year, come and talk to one of us, or any of the other prefects, who we'll point out later." Roxanne turned to Leonard, who took up the dialogue.

"Okay, awesome. Right, small folk, follow me!" He said with a jovial grin, ignoring Roxanne's glare.

"Hey, we're not that small, Len!" one of the First Years piped up indignantly. He appeared to know Leonard, who turned back and grinned at the boy.

"Found your voice, finally, have you, Matt?" Leonard mocked as he led the way out of the Hall. "You need to start living up to the Gryffindor name, little bro, if you wanna go far!"

Matt sighed, rolling his eyes, and Sam heard him mutter to Hugo, "He's an idiot, my brother Len."

The gaggle of students stepped onto the staircase just off the main entrance hall. Lily nudged Sam. "Look up," she said, and Sam complied. Her jaw dropped, not for the first time that evening. Above them were flights and flights of stone staircases, constantly moving and rotating to reach different platforms. It was truly breathtaking.

"Oh, watch out for that step there. It's a fake, and you don't want to get stuck. Just jump over it." Leonard advised then, pointing to the step in question. Lily and Sam looked at each other, grabbed each other's hands and jumped over it in unison before continuing up the steps. They looked back to see how the others were going. Hugo must have gotten the step wrong, and prepared to jump. He landed on the false step, and a few people laughed while the other boys tried to pull him out, as he blushed to the roots of his red hair. Roxanne, who was bringing up the rear, tapped the step with her wand, and muttered a spell. The step released Hugo immediately. Roxanne ruffled her cousin's hair, and said with a smile, "I knew you'd be the one to miss it..."

Eventually they got to the seventh floor, and Leonard stopped in front of a life-sized portrait of a fat lady in a silk dress. They had already noticed that the portraits moved and talked; as they had passed come of the chattier ones had tried to engage the students in conversation. The Fat Lady looked at the Gryffindors appraisingly.

"Password?" She asked primly.

"Corne d'Ivoire." Leonard told her. She nodded, and the picture swung forward to reveal a rounded hole. Roxanne turned to the group.

"It's French for "Ivory Horn". Louis is responsible for making the portrait hole passwords, and his girlfriend has a bit of a thing for unicorns. You'll need to remember that password, guys," she explained as they climbed through the large hole.

They came into the common room. It was mostly decorated red and gold, and it had comfy looking sofas and a warm fire, and at the end, two staircases. In all it was a very welcoming and cosy room. Some older students were hanging around by the fire, but most of them had gone to bed.

"So this is our totally awesome common room. This is home for the next seven years. You get to hang out here at the end of the day, studying, socialising, whatever...the password changes every two weeks. You'll be notified." Leonard said with a grand sweep of his arm.

"Now off to bed. You have classes first thing tomorrow. The house elves will probably have your timetables on your bed tomorrow morning. Girls' dormitory is on the left, boys' ones are on our right." Roxanne said, motioning to girls to follow her up the staircase on the left.

Sam and Lily bade goodnight to Hugo before proceeding up the staircase. Roxanne led them to a door with a bronze plaque on it. The plaque had an ornate number '1' on it followed by a list of the girls' names. Sam noted with a jolt of disgruntlement that her name read 'Sam McCarty'. It seemed she wouldn't escape the fictional surname.

"Here's your dormitory girls," Roxanne said. "If you need me, I'm in the fifth bedroom up. My name's on the door, anyway, if you lose count! Sleep well, all of you!" And with that, she left them at the door and carried on up the stairs.

The girls stood quietly in front of the door. "So," Sam asked abruptly when no-one moved. "Who's going to do the honours?"

They all looked at each other. For a moment no-one spoke. Sam sighed. "I'll do it then. After all, my name's first on the door..."

And with that, she opened the door to their new dormitory.

Their dormitory was a spacious circular room, with five four-poster beds, draped in red and gold, much like the common room downstairs. Their luggage had been placed neatly in the centre of the room, and Sam spotted her kitten's cage on top of her new trunk. They quickly chose beds; Sam chose one next to one of the two arched windows which gave an amazing view of a sparkling lake, which she suspected was even more breathtaking in the daylight. Lily chose the bed to her right, and the other three girls positioned themselves around them happily moving their trunks over to the foot of their beds.

Then they all sat on their beds and looked at eachother, no-one really knowing what to say.

Eventually Lily spoke up. "What do you say we all introduce ourselves, going round the circle?" she suggested, and everyone nodded. The girl whose bed was to the left of Sam, next to the door decided to start.

"Well, I'm Shania, Shania West," she began. She had poker-straight dirty-blonde hair down to the small of her back, and she had a very petite frame. Her hazel eyes shone as she smiled round at everyone. "My mum's a witch, and my dad is too, but he's the only one in his family."

Sam found it fascinating to think that people like Shania and Lily had grown up around magic, whereas she hadn't even known it had existed until a few weeks ago.

The girl in the bed on the other side of the door introduced herself. "Erin Ragvedo," she said.

"You're the triplet, right?" Shania asked, and Erin nodded, her dark brown curls bobbing.

"Yeah, we're triplets, although we're not very similar at all," Erin smiled. "Even the Sorting Hat realised that - Ava's in Ravenclaw, and my brother Luca is a Hufflepuff, which just goes to show you how different we all are; Ava's the brains, Luca's the loyal, nice one and I'm supposedly brave..." she said with a wry giggle.

Lily smiled at Erin. "You're obviously in the best one of the three!" she laughed, and Erin joined in in agreement.

The girl next to Lily decided to speak next. "I'm Morgan Queen, and I'm Muggleborn, so you guys are going to have to explain stuff to me as we go along, I'm sure!" she grinned as she spoke in her soft Welsh accent. She was quiet and unassuming, and her bright blue eyes were friendly as she looked round at her room mates. She looked pleasant enough, albeit a little nervous.

It was Lily's turn next. "You probably already know I'm Lily Potter. Yep, my dad's Harry Potter, Order of Merlin, First Class, yadda yadda... but I'm not here to live up to my dad, I'm here to be me," she said good-naturedly. "My mum is Ginny Potter, but she was born a Weasley, so any Weasley you see round here is a member of my family."

Morgan asked Lily, "Is your dad famous then, Lily?"

When Shania and Erin looked at Morgan incredulously, and the Welsh girl held her hands up. "Muggleborn, remember?" she reminded them.

Lily grinned. "It's fine, Morgan, I was gonna tell Sam anyway," she said."Basically, there was a dark wizard called Lord Voldemort, who wanted to rid the world of Muggles, Muggleborns and Halfbloods - you know, people whose parents are not full wizards, or if one of their parents are Muggle."

"Like me," Shania chipped in. "My mum's Pureblood, and my dad's a Muggleborn, which makes me Halfblood."

Lily nodded. "And me, my mum's a Pureblood, and my dad is a Halfblood, even though both of his parents came to Hogwarts, his mum - my grandmother - was a Muggleborn. So I'm a Halfblood too."  
>"Both my parents are Pureblood," Erin said. "Just for the record!" she grinned.<p>

Sam nodded even though she thought it all seemed very confusing.

Lily continued. "Anyway, Voldemort heard a prophecy that my dad would destroy him, so he went to my grandparents' house and killed them, then tried to kill my dad, who was a baby. But it didn't work. Voldemort disappeared, assumed to be dead, and my dad survived, with no injuries but a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead."

Sam was amazed. That sounded pretty cool.

"Is that why he's famous then?" Morgan asked.

"Well, part of the reason, but the thing is, Voldemort came back. All through his time at Hogwarts, my dad had to fight him and his followers, when finally in his seventh year there was a huge battle here at Hogwarts and my dad, as well as Hugo's mum and dad, finally defeated Voldemort for good." Lily explained.

"I heard that Harry Potter had to die to defeat Voldemort, but then he came back to life..." Erin said. Lily agreed.

"Yes, that's apparently what happened. It's a long story, spanning over seventeen years of my dad's life, and all I'm going to say is, if you want to know the full story, there are plenty of history books on it!" She smiled.

Lily turned to Sam, and motioned to her to introduce herself.

"I'm Sam. The list says I'm Sam McCarty, and I suppose for the purpose of administration, that's my name, but I've never had a last name." she said.

"Why not?" Erin asked.

Sam shrugged. "I never knew my parents, and they never gave me a surname. I was left on the doorstep of a children's home in Camden with a note: 'Her name is Sam.' And that was it."

The was a silence as the other four girls took this in.

Lily was the first to speak. "Well, you'll probably be called 'McCarty' a lot around here, like Fred said, but if it upsets you, I'll never attach that name to you," she said with a small, friendly smile. Sam nodded in appreciation. It wasn't that she had anything against the name, but it was the principle: Sam had never had one, and if she was going to have a surname, she wanted to be sure it had belonged to her parents. It felt important to her, somehow.

"What's it like? The foster system? I mean, I know they are supposed to be awful." Morgan asked.

"Well, the children's home I was at was pretty awful. It had hardly any funding...in fact I don't think the government even knew it existed. All the older kids pick on the little ones, and if you try and stop them, they'll get you too. This guy called Stubbs hated me. I always stopped him hurting the little ones. We've been in so many fights that I lost count years ago. I normally lose, just because he's got his own gang, right? But sometimes I win. That was the first thing Professor Rondinio saw me do, you know that? Smash Stubbs face in." Sam told them. Everyone thought that was funny.

"Seriously? Like, 'Oh-yeah-I-know-you-need-to-tell-me-I'm-a-witch-and-invited-to-this-fancy-magical-school-but-hang-I-just-have-to-give-this-guy-a-black-eye-I'll-be-with-you-in-a-second', sort of thing?" Shania said in a super fast voice and in an odd accent which was nothing like hers. It was pretty hilarious and the girls cracked up laughing.

"Something like that..." Sam grinned, "Well, actually nothing like that; I didn't actually know he was there until afterwards... I was covered in bruises, had blood all over my face and all through my mouth and lips, and I was just thinking like, 'oh, okay, can you just wait for me to spit this into the sink and wash my face so I don't look like I have just come out of a messed-up horror movie?'. I probably wasn't what he was expecting, but it was a brutal fight." Morgan and Sam laughed a little at the mental image of 'Sam the Horror Movie Monster', but the other three witches didn't.

"You were that badly beaten up?" Lily asked her new friend. She seemed very concerned, and Sam was quite touched. Sam nodded and shrugged like it was no big deal, then decided it was time to change the subject.

"So where are you guys all from?" Sam asked them, and they took the bait. Soon the girls were chatting about completely random things, just getting to know eachother. The new generation of Gryffindor girls talked well into the night, and for the first time in her life, Sam felt she would fit in somewhere.

**Uber-long chappie here! So please please pleeeeease REVIEW!**

**and wish MayFairy a happy birthday; it was her birthday yesterday! XD**

**Love and stuff to you all!**

**xx**


	4. Chapter 4

...Chapter 4

"I'm sure we've been past here already..."

"No, we haven't!"

"We have, Lily, that's the same tapestry, look it's the one with Saiam the Selfless..."

"He's right, you know, Lils..."

Lily stopped and turned to face her cousin and her friend. She put both hands on her hips. "Look," she said grumpily. "If you know how to get to Charms, then by all means, get us there. That's what I'm trying to do, and your comments aren't helpful!"

The three of them had been trying, and failing, for the last fifteen minutes to reach their first Charms lesson of the year. They had been Hogwarts first-years for a day and a half now, and while normally all of the Gryffindor first-years travelled in one large group, Lily, Sam and Hugo had become somehow separated from the pack, and were now, to put it simply, completely and utterly lost. The stairs had moved around too many times for them to count, and the corridors had all started to look the same. In fact, Sam had a suspicion that the corridors were all in actul truth, the same; they had passed the bronze statue of Boris the Bewildered at least three times now.

"Lily," Hugo tried to placate his cousin, who was glowering at her companions. "We would really like to get to Charms too, you know; but walking round in circles isn't going to get us anywhere..."

"Helborne is gonna kill us -" Lily began.

"They should have given us a map," Sam said with a frown. "It's not our fault if we get lost in a place this big with no map."

"Now, what would three delightful first-years such as your charming young selves, be wanting a map for?" The trio spun on the spot as they heard the voice from behind them.

Fred Weasley came round the corner, a huge grin on his face as he approached his cousins and Sam.

"Fred! Oh, Merlin, Fred!" Lily exclaimed, the relief evident on her face. "Fred, you have to show us how to get to Charms -"

"-Oh, Lilykins, you've been a Hogwarts student for two whole days, and now you can't get to Charms? Jolly poor show, cuz," George, too emerged from the other adjoining corridor, smiling broadly. He winked at Sam. "What have my delightful relatives dragged you into, eh, Sammy?"

Sam quirked an eyebrow at George's nickname for her, but otherwise said nothing. She didn't really have the time for either twin's antics.

"Fred, George, we got separated from everyone on the way to Charms. Could you show us the way?" She said bluntly.

Fred and George looked at eachother as if in contemplation.

"Well..." George began.

"We couuulld..." Fred added, drawing out his words as much as possible.

"But..." they both added. Sam narrowed her eyes in anticipation, getting a feeling that the twins were not going to be helpful.

"We won't be seen dead with you lowly, snotty, baby first-years!" George said with a loud guffaw.

He was suddenly pushed towards the wall, as Sam had given him a hard shove. She stalked over to where he had almost stumbled. His eyes were wide. Fred, Lily and Hugo, too shocked to do anything, watched as the blonde glared up at George, irate.

"And why the hell not? You were a bloody first-year once!" She growled. "It wouldn't even kill you to give us simple directions-"

She was distracted by a hand coming to rest on her arm. Turning her head, she saw, out of nowhere, Albus Potter had appeared. She looked at him, and his green eyes bore into her violet ones.

"Hey," he said softly. "Idiot cousin's joking," he glanced at George, who was still watching Sam nervously. "Forget him. I'll show you how to get to Charms."

Sam looked at George once more. Suddenly she felt embarrased. Why was she angry with him? She knew Fred and George were jokers. She liked them for it. Why was she suddenly so angry?

Hogwarts must be rubbing me up the wrong way, she thought. She didn't like the sudden anger that had just been directed at George out of her own simple frustration.

She stepped back from George, and turned to face him properly. He was a decent guy, who she respected, and he deserved a decent apology; Sam was no coward.

"George, I'm sorry," she said, sticking out a hand. "I dunno what came over me. Friends?" she asked, a little hesitantly.

George surprised her when, without even thinking about it, he grasped Sam's hand and pumped it soundly. "Friends," he said easily. "Just don't flip out on me again, 'kay? You're pretty damned scary when you're angry!" He flashed her a grin, and earned one in response from the violet-eyed first year.

Hugo sighed. "While this has been all terribly exciting, we are now...twenty-five minutes late for Charms." He turned to his older cousins. "Will one of you please show us the way before we get put in detention for so long that we're seventeen when it ends?"

This raised a small smile. "Looking at Helborne, that doesn't even sound too impossible," Fred said. "C'mon, let's get you kids to class."

The first-years followed the older Gryffindors in companionable silence. As Sam tried to memorise the route they were taking, she suddenly thought of something.

"How come you three aren't in class then?" she asked them.

Albus answered for them. "Free period," he said. "You've got some too, right?"

Sam, Hugo and Lily nodded.

"What were you doing in that corridor where you found us?" Lily asked. "I mean, of all the corridors of Hogwarts to be in, you happened to be in that corridor when we needed you?"

Sam noticed the boys stiffen almost imperceptibly. However, when Albus replied for them all once more, his voice was calm and breezy. "Brother's intuition, Lils," he said, and looked at Lily in such a way that she realised she shouldn't push the matter.

They reached the Charms classroom in a matter of minutes.

Standing outside, Fred turned to them. "I'll try and cover for you," he said with a wink, and knocked three times on the door.

"Enter," came a deep, baritone voice.

Fred held the door open with a flourish and George sauntered in breezily.

"Good Morning, sir!" he said with a wide smile. Helborne simply turned to glare at him, his dark brown eyes boring into the third year.

"Yes?" the professor asked coldly.

"Ah, Professor Helborne, sir, I wanted to introduce you, sir, to your three newest students, sir:" George beckoned the first-years in, and they shuffled into view nervously. "Sam McCarty, Lily Potter and Hugo Weasley. Unfortunately they missed the first half of your class-"

Helborne glared frostily at the congregation of students at his door. "And why might that be?" he asked, and Sam felt her hairs on the back of her neck tingle.

Fred now entered the fray. "Well you see sir, we were escorting these young magic-folk to your class, when all three of them suddenly became really dehydrated...and we thought they were going to pass out, so we took them out to the courtyard just down there for some fresh air and some water, but...y'see sir, the fountain wasn't working, so we had to take them all the way back to the other side of the school to the other fountain, and we had to valiantly struggle to carry our young schoolmates who were becoming more and more lightheaded...and then -"

Helborne had had enough. "Mr Weasley, as thoroughly illuminating as your...story is, I have a class to teach, and these three-" he indicated Sam, Hugo and Lily- "-are late. Therefore, ten points each will be deducted from Gryffindor."

Fred interjected, "but Sir! Ten points each? We stopped them from passing out in your lesson-"

"Would you like to lose some points from Gryffindor too, Mr Weasley?" Helborne asked, deceptively politely, but everyone could hear the quiet authority lacing his voice. Fred visibly swallowed.

"No, Sir," he said, a little unsure. "Have a good day, Sir."

With that, he and George left the room, George muttering under his breath, "We just saved you from a potential casualty in your classroom, Sir..."

Sam stifled a grin as she looked up at the stern professor. He lifted an eyebrow at them, and Hugo realised they were expected to speak. "Sorry for our lateness, Sir. It won't happen again."

Helborne nodded. "See that it doesn't, or you will lose more points for Gryffindor than can possibly be earned," he said in a quiet, cold voice. He indicated some empty seats. "Weasley, there is a spare seat next to Miss Hammond, and you, Potter and McCarty can take the seats at the back, next to Finnigan and Thomas."

Sam and Lily looked at each other in relief. At least they would still be able to sit together. They quickly hurried to their places and pulled out their Charms textbook.

Helborne returned to the blackboard. "Before I was so...rudely...interrupted by your classmates -" Here Sam scowled at the professor's turned back; it wasn't their fault they were late - "I was outlining the basis of the Simple Levitation Charm, with the incantation, Wingardium Leviosa."

Sam reached for a quill and began to write down some notes. 'Simple...Levitation...Charm.'

"McCarty." Professor Helborne's voice called from across the classroom, and it took Sam a few moments to recall that he was addressing her. She raised her head.

"Sir?" she asked.

"Look around, McCarty," Professor Helborne said softly, but dangerously, and Sam followed the direction. She didn't understand the relevance of what her teacher was saying.

She met Helborne's gaze, violet eyes locking onto almost-black ones, and she asked, "What am I looking at, Sir?"

"Do you see anyone else holding a quill, McCarty?" Helborne asked. Sam looked around once more. No one was holding a quill. No one, with the exception of herself and Lily, had even a notebook on their table.

"No, Sir." Sam replied dutifully.

"The reason for this, McCarty, is that at the start of the lesson, I ordered that no-one was to make notes, lest it distract their attention from me." Helborne's voice became, if possible, even softer. "But, you weren't present for that part of my lesson, were you, McCarty? You were too busy being...dehydrated, was it?" he said disdainfully. Sam was unsure whether to nod or shake her head at this point. After a moment's hesitation she shook it slowly.

"Twenty points from Gryffindor, McCarty!" the professor suddenly barked, and several students jumped, the Gryffindors among them looking scandalised.

"What for, Sir?" Sam had to ask. "I mean, I was already punished for being late, and now I'm being punished for it again?" She was confused where the sudden docking of points had come from.

"For not being observant enough to notice that nobody else was writing notes," the professor asserted. The dangerous glint in his eye suggested that if Sam pushed the point anymore she would lose even more points. She sighed inwardly. Day Two and she'd already lost thirty points for her house. It wasn't looking good.

And it got worse.

"And you, Potter have lost yourself another ten points, for failing to tell your so-called friend to stop writing notes, when you had already realised that nobody had notebooks out."

Lily looked from Helborne to Sam, scandalised. "But I-"

"Miss Potter, I should inform you that I am head of Ravenclaw House for a reason: I am not stupid. So you can try and convince McCarty that you didn't know, but you can't pull the wool over my eyes." Helborne interrupted, before walking away and turning back to address the class. "Now that Potter and McCarty are somewhat finished diverting my attention, we shall continue."

Sam spent the rest of the lesson in a silent fury. How dare Helborne dock points for such trivial matters? It was as if he'd already decided that she would be his scapegoat this year. Well, if that was the case, she couldn't see herself enjoying Charms that much. Which was a shame, as Mr Ollivander had said she would excel in Charms...

[flashback]

Professor Rondinio had accompanied Sam to Diagon Alley, as she had no parents who could accompany her. It was an oddly enjoyable experience, as Rondinio was a good companion, and had eased Sam's worries about not having any money quite easily; there was a trust fund set up in her name, courtesy of Hogwarts. It had at first felt like charity, but as Rondinio had said, "If you work hard at Hogwarts, you've earned it, if you want to see it as a debt instead."

So it was a loan, not charity: Sam could deal with that concept. And if, as Rondinio had insisted, Hogwarts was a real place, then Sam was determined to earn her place there.

They had just finished their ice-cream break, with Sam having got almost everything on her list, including books, robes and a cauldron. All that was left was a wand.

"Go to Ollivander's. You can get your wand from there." Rondinio said. Sam's eyes wandered to the shop he was gesturing to and she nodded.

"Shall I meet you back here?" she asked the professor, who shook his head.

"I'll come in once you've got your wand, I have to have a few words with Mr Ollivander." he explained. "See you soon."

Sam pushed the door open to the dimly-lit shop. It had a very quiet, almost eerie feel to it. An owl hooted as she passed it, and with a small jolt, Sam realised that she had not noticed the old man dozing in the corner behind the counter. He looked positively ancient; tired, deep creases had been permanently etched into his skin, his eyes were sunken and surrounded on all sides by wrinkles. He barely breathed, and each breath seemed laboured.

The owl hooted once more and the old man's eyes flickered open, revealing pale, cloudy blue irises, watching Sam closely.

"Mr Ollivander?" Sam asked quietly, and a little hesitantly. She wasn't used to being nervous or unsure, but the wizarding world was so new to her, and the mysterious Ollivander was slightly disarming.

"Yes." the old man said in a gravelly voice. "But you'll want my apprentice, Eoin."

He peered closely at Sam from his chair in the corner, before getting up and approaching her. Sam fought the instinct to step backwards.

"Have I seen you in here before? Or a member of your family?" He asked Sam, who shook her head.

"I have no family." she said.

"Those eyes," He murmured. "Unforgettable. Curious. No family, you say? You're quite sure?"

"Yes." Sam said with a frown. She didn't like that Ollivander was implying that she didn't know whether she had family or not.

"Hm..." Ollivander grunted, before returning slowly to his seat. "Eoin! Where in Merlin's name are you?" He shouted, making Sam jump.

A man in his late twenties came out from behind the curtain behind the counter. "Sorry, Ollivander, I was in the office, didn't hear the door go." He had cropped dark red hair, and a milky pale complexion, with a pair of warm hazel eyes, which seemed to sparkle as he grinned at Sam.

"First year at Hogwarts?" He asked cheerily.

"Yep." Sam replied. Eoin opened up the curtain and Sam could see shelves and shelves, full of tiny boxes. She looked at them, amazed. How was she going to find a wand out of all them?

"Let's see what we can find you." Eoin said. He studied her for a couple of seconds before pulling out his own wand and flicking it. A tape measure flew out from behind him and began measuring Sam all of its own accord. Once it had finished measuring the distance between her thumb and forefinger, it rolled itself up and put itself away. Eoin looked at Sam one last time and climbed a ladder to reach one of uppermost shelves, and he pulled out a slim black leather box.

Bringing it back to the counter, he opened the case an pulled out the small wooden stick, and held it out to Sam.

"Eight and a half inches, apple, dragon heartstring core. Stout but sturdy." he said as Sam gripped the wand tensely. She wasn't really sure what to do with it, it felt strange in her hands. Eoin nodded encouragingly. "Give it a flick," he said with a smile.

Sam gave it a little wave, and the wand gave a feeble stutter and then nothing.

"Not that one." Eoin said, Ollivander rolled his eyes.

Eoin left the wand in its box on the counter, and returned to the shelves. He picked out another wand box, this one containing a considerably longer wand, in a pretty reddish brown.

"12 inches, mahogany, unicorn hair core. A little more whippy, I think, but fabulous for Healing." He said. With a little more confidence now she knew what she was doing, Sam flicked the wand, and several of the shelves collapsed with a loud bang, causing the owl to screech, and Mr Ollivander to raise a cynical eyebrow.

"Shit, I'm sorry!" Sam gasped, hastily placing the wand on the counter and backing away slowly.

Ollivander groaned. "You're giving her the wrong ones. You haven't picked up on the right vibe yet." He said to Eoin, who blushed slighty at the criticism. The old man slowly got out of his chair, and used his walking stick to go behind the counter and pick out a box. He pulled it out with his free hand and shuffled back to hold it out to Sam, who was beginning to wonder if maybe she wasn't magic after all.

Sam took the box gingerly, a feeling of anticipation rippling through her. She opened it and looked at the wand inside. It was not as long as the mahogany one but not as short as the apple. It was a rich brown, and when Sam clasped her fingers around it she felt an immediate warmth.

Just as she had for the previous wands, Sam gave the wand a miniscule wave. Despite the tiny movement, the reaction was of colossal proportions.

Purple flames whipped out of the wand, and spiralled around her like a whirlwind. The mess she had made earlier with the mahogany wand began to tidy itself up, and all of the lamps in the dim shop lit up spectacularly. A warm wind rustled through Sam's cropped hair, and the front door flew open, allowing the purple fire to dance outside onto the street as well. All the while, Sam just gripped the wand and watched the display with wonder. She hadn't known what to expect, but somehow she knew this was the right wand.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Professor Rondinio standing by the door to the shop, looking awe-struck, and slightly worried.

Eventually, after what seemed like an age, the fire faded, and all became calm again.

"I'm guessing that means it's the right one." Sam said dryly.

Eoin chuckled. "That's one way of putting it. I've never seen quite a display before. That was phenomenal!"

"You are destined for great things, you know." Ollivander told her gravely.

Sam raised an eyebrow. "Why do you say that?" she asked warily.

"Your wand is a rare combination: rowan and phoenix feather. The feather doesn't bind well to rowan, as their properties are somewhat conflicting: rowan is quite a subtle wood, whereas phoenix feather is powerful and domineering." the old man explained. Sam frowned. Ollivander made it seem as though the wood and the feather had personalities, and that didn't sit right with her.

Ollivander coughed a little, then continued. "However, they were bound, and this wand will serve you well, young lady: you will find defensive spells a dream with this wand, as well as a boost in your Transfiguration. However, your ability in Charms is what will excel beyond most people's boundaries: rowan typically boosts Charms performance, but with the phoenix feather too...anything is possible."

Sam felt a quiver in her stomach, as she looked at her wand in a completely different light. Part of her was almost scared to touch such a powerful tool, but part of her couldn't bear to put it down.

Eoin spoke up. "If this wand picked you, then you must be a witch of huge potential." He grinned. "Congratulations!"

"Wait," Sam said, raising a finger, as she looked at Eoin. "The wand picked me?" It sounded like a bizarre notion. However, it was Rondinio who replied.

"The wand chooses the wizard, Sam," he said with a sparkling glance at her.

"Wandlore is a very complex and powerful thing," Ollivander said, "but one thing is sure: The wand chooses the wizard." He coughed again. "The core of your wand is a phoenix feather... not particularly rare, but many of the most powerful wizards in history bore phoenix feather wands, the most recent of which, Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort himself."

Sam had no idea who either of those people were, but judging by Ollivander's tone, and Eoin's enthusiastic smile, Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort were to be admired for their power.

"The phoenix who gave the feather for this wand, gave two others. As it happens, I sold one of its brothers just the other day. The other, many years ago to a charming young chap who looked as though he had marvellous potential." Ollivander explained with a mild air of nostalgia, and Sam nodded.

"Well I like it." she shrugged indifferently. He raised his eyebrow.

"Like it? My dear girl, a wand is an extension of one's arm!" He said indignantly.

"Exactly. I like it." Sam said flatly, and she saw Ollivander share a quick look with Rondinio, though she had no idea what it meant.

She paid twelve Galleons and two Sickles for her new wand, and Eoin wished her well: "Go and do great things, Sam! And good luck!"

[end flashback]

Sam was brought back to reality to the harsh sound of students pushing their chairs back to stand up. It was the end of the lesson, and Sam hadn't taken in one word of it. She became aware that Lily was talking to her.

"―and I swear, Sam, I hadn't even noticed that no-one was writing notes except you, I would have told you, honestly! Oh Merlin, Sam, I'm so sorry, Helborne's lying―"

Sam held up a hand casually. "Lils, it's fine. I believe you. Helborne's a prick. I'll live." She said with a small smile. And it was true, she'd live.

But that didn't change the fact that she hated Charms.

Herbology was an entirely different experience. The first year Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs shared the lesson taught by Professor Longbottom, whose jovial state and kind encouragement was by far easier to receive than Helborne's constant criticism. Between them, the Gryffindor girls managed to earn back the points Sam and Lily had lost in Charms, so the lesson did end on something of a high note, with high-fives being exchanged all round.

After Herbology, Sam and Lily returned to the Gryffindor Common Room with Morgan Queen, the Muggleborn Welsh girl. They flopped down onto one of the comfy sofas.

"So, we've got...Flying with Professor Gilbert after lunch, and our second Transfiguration lesson with Professor McGonagall," Morgan said, as she examined her timetable.

"Yep," Lily said. "D'you know, a Professor McGonagall taught my mum and dad Transfiguration too, and she was an old lady who was Head of Gryffindor? Apparently our professor's her nephew or something," she said conversationally.

Sam had liked Professor Timothy McGonagall. He was young and smart and very skilled. In their first lesson he had done a practical demonstration in which he had simultaneously turned the hair of the entire class a vivid blue. If that was the type of thing that Sam could learn to do, she decided she would enjoy Transfiguration.

"McGonagall's cool," Sam said as her contribution to the conversation. Morgan frowned at her.

"You seem a bit...off, Sam," she said, concerned. "Are you still thinking about Helborne?"

Sam shook her head vehemently. "I'm not going to waste any time thinking about that idiot. I'm just...just tired."

Lily nodded sympathetically. "It's tiring, being here...I think once we get used to it a bit more, it'll be easier." She shifted on the sofa. "Anyway, let's go down to lunch. It's a long afternoon today, Flying, Transfiguration and don't forget, Potions with the Slytherins..." she sighed, and Sam and Morgan rose from the sofa and made their way to the portrait hole. As they reached the hole, it opened, and James Potter came through, looking a little bedraggled.

"James?" Lily said with a frown. "What happened to you?"

James looked livid, and he glared at Lily. "Nothing. Out of the way," he grunted.

"Oh, charming," Lily said, with an indignant roll of her eyes. "Jamie, what's wrong with you?"

"Nothing!" the eldest Potter yelled, towering over his sister. The Common Room fell silent, but James appeared not to notice. "Nothing! Nothing's wrong, and you can mind your own bloody business!"

Lily glared up at her brother angrily. "Fine! But when you've sorted yourself out so you're not shouting at people for no reason, come and find me, okay?" she said harshly, before stalking out of the portrait hole.

Sam let out a breath. "What the hell just happened?" she asked.

Lily shook her head. "I have no idea. But James' temper is out of control. He always blows up at people when he's angry about something else...he needs to learn to control it, or he's going to get into trouble," she said with a sigh. "More trouble than he's already been in."

The three girls reached the Great Hall in relative silence. Making their way over to the Gryffindor table, they saw a small crowd around a person sitting at one of the benches. The person was a girl, with gentle chocolate-coloured curls, and her grey eyes were currently red-rimmed and swollen, where she'd clearly been crying.

"That's Daisy Finnigan," Lily said with a frown.

"Aidan's sister?" Morgan asked, and Lily nodded in response. "What's wrong with her?"

Lily shrugged. "I have no idea. I've never seen her cry before; she's Quidditch Captain this year, and she's always been very tough. You have to be, in Quidditch; you can't be sensitive. So something really bad must have happened..."

Sam quirked an eyebrow. Two days and already Hogwarts was full of drama. She didn't know how much she could take. She sat down at the far end of the table, away from the gaggle of girls fawning over Daisy Finnigan, and began to butter a roll. She had little patience for tears and drama, and besides, she was starving.

Five minutes and three bread rolls later, Morgan and Lily joined her. Lily scowled into her sandwich. "I am going to kill James," she said darkly, taking a savage bite. Sam looked at her friend curiously, and Lily let out a huffy breath, though she didn't elaborate any further, just continued to attack her sandwich. Sam flashed Morgan a confused look, but Morgan Morgan and Sam exchanged a confused glance, but didn't push it any more.

Lunch came and went with no more interruptions, and the Gryffindor first-years had assembled on the back lawn with Professor Gilbert and ten brooms.

"Righty, folks!" Gilbert called, clapping his hands. "Flying. The art of riding and controlling a broomstick. If you do it right, it can be an exhilarating and rewarding past-time." He looked at the line of students. "We could be looking at the future of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, the future of the England Quidditch team here!" He exclaimed with a charming smile, and Sam felt, rather than saw Shania, who was on her left, melt a little when Gilbert grinned at her. Sam inwardly rolled her eyes. She didn't find Gilbert particularly charming.

"Mr Weasley," Gilbert said suddenly, addressing Hugo, who suddenly looked a little nervous.

"Sir?"

"Quidditch runs in your family, does it not?"

Hugo nodded slowly. "Yes, Sir...my dad and many of my uncles played Quidditch for Gryffindor at school," he replied, "and my aunt played for the Holyhead Harpies."

Gilbert smiled widely again. "Fabulous!" he exclaimed. "Well, I expect big things from you, young man!"

Hugo swallowed visibly. He didn't look comfortable.

Gilbert reached Lily next. "Ah, Miss Potter...your heritage precedes you," he said with an almost mysterious air. Sam thought this was an odd thing to say; if, by heritage, Gilbert meant the legacy of her parents, then of course it preceded her: all of that had happened before Lily was even born. Catching Morgan's eye, Sam saw that she wasn't the only one who thought it was odd.

Gilbert continued. "Your father was the youngest Seeker of the century here at Hogwarts, your grandfather was a record-breaking Gryffindor Chaser, your mother has played both Seeker and Chaser in Gryffindor to such high standards that she played professionally after her graduation...Even your brother is a formidable opponent on the pitch...Quidditch is in your blood, Miss Potter! Tell me, do you fly?"

Lily frowned. "Of course, Sir. I learnt when I was three," she said, with the tone of someone who thought it was a silly question, but tried to be polite anyway.

Gilbert beamed once more. "Excellent!" he shouted, making Lily jump. Sam sighed. Gilbert's theatrics were getting on her nerves. She wished he would just get on with the lesson already.

Maybe Gilbert heard Sam's sigh, or maybe he'd run out of theatrical exclaimations, but either way, he decided to begin the lesson. He asked the people who could already fly to stand to one side, and the beginners to stand to the other side. Sam stood with Morgan and Shania (who, despite being from a Wizarding family had never ridden a broomstick in her life). Hugo and Jamie Abercrombie joined the three girls, and the remaining five Gryffindors stood opposite them, and Sam tried to remember all of their names: she knew Lily and Erin of course, and she remembered Colin Creevey, the boy who'd tripped at the Sorting, and Aidan Finnigan and Matthew Thomas, who she'd sat next to in that awful Charms lesson. She wasn't surprised that Aidan could fly: after all, his sister was Quidditch captain. As for Matt, he probably came from a magical family, considering his brother Leonard was a Hogwarts student too.

With a flick of his wand, Gilbert set up a small assault course for the flyers to attempt one after the other, then turned to the beginners.

"Righty, folks!" he began, "First you have to mount your brooms, hold your hand out above it, and say 'up!' Nice and firmly now..."

Sam looked down at her broom, and held her hand out over it. Feeling a little self-concious, she said softly, "Up!"

The broom gave a little twitch upwards but then lay still. Sam looked to see how the others fared on their first go; Shania's broom had leapt into her hand straight away, to her surprise, but nobody else had managed it yet. Sam tried again, more firmly this time, and her broom rose smartly into her hand. Sam breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't need anything else to make her doubt she was a witch.

Within ten minutes, all five of them had their broomsticks in their hands. Hugo's had taken the longest - his broom had just been rolling feebly until he shouted at it in frustration.

Gilbert beamed brilliantly at them all again. "Fabulous! Right, now we must mount our brooms, and push firmly off the ground. Keep both hands on the broom and sit nice and straight, and your broom should just hover nicely in mid-air."

Feeling oddly nervous, Sam followed the instructions. Counting to three in her head, she pushed off the ground in a sort of jump. Yet, to her astonishment, after she jumped, her feet didn't touch the ground again. In fact, she was hovering six feet off the ground. It was the most bizarre feeling, yet oddly exhilarating too. Beside her, Shania too had risen off the ground, as had Jamie Abercrombie, though he looked incredibly astonished that it had worked, and he flashed Sam a nervous grin. Shania was beaming. "It worked!" she said gleefully. "My brother told me I'd never be able to fly a broom, because I wasn't magical enough...ha!"

Professor Gilbert laughed at her outburst. "Well, congratulations, Miss...?"

"West, Sir, Shania West." Shania said with a small blush.

"Miss West, well done! And you, Miss...?" he added, addressing Sam.

"Sam." she said shortly. Gilbert frowned slightly, the first break in his huge smile.

"Right, Miss...Sam..."

"No, just Sam." Sam corrected him. "My name's Sam."

Gilbert frowned some more as he looked up at Sam, but all too soon the grin was back. "Well, Sam, marvellous. Excellent!" he moved on to Jamie. "Fabulous, Mr Abercrombie!" Jamie smiled quietly at his achievement.

Morgan and Hugo were yet to take off. Morgan jumped over and over again, and rose a few inches off the ground before landing again. It seemed to Sam that maybe Morgan got distracted every time she got off the ground, and this loss of concentration caused her to fall again. She'd probably pick it up soon.

Hugo, however, wasn't even trying. He'd swung one leg over the broomstick, but hadn't once tried to push off, just stared at the ground. Maybe he was psyching himself up to do it, or maybe he was stalling for another reason. Professor Gilbert approached him.

"Mr Weasley? Have you pushed off yet?" he asked. Hugo shook his head.

"I don't want to," he said quietly.

Gilbert gasped exaggeratedly, not understanding Hugo's attempt at a bit of privacy. "Why ever not?" he exclaimed. "Look, just push, Mr Weasley, it's not difficult, and it's in your blood―"

Hugo glared at the professor, and threw down his broomstick. "I don't give a damn!" he shouted, and Sam raised her eyebrows in surprise at his outburst. "I don't want to!"

And with that, he spun on his heel and walked off back towards the castle. Gilbert stared after him, looking a little shocked. Pulling himself together, he returned to the group. "Right, well, we've reached the end of our first lesson now...if you lean forward slightly, the broom will begin to descend..." he said absently, before blowing a whistle to let the other students know to leave the assault course. Once everyone was on the ground and back in one group, he dismissed them, still seeming a little dazed at Hugo's early departure.

Lily turned to Sam. "What happened?" she asked. "Where's Hugo?"

San shrugged. "He left," she said simply.

"What?"

"He left."

Sam refused to elaborate further. She had no idea why Hugo had lost his temper, but she didn't think it was her story to tell. Shania, however, had no such qualms, and began to tell Lily what had happened, but Professor Gilbert interrupted, calling Lily back.

Confused, Lily began to approach the professor, calling back to Sam over her shoulder, "I'll catch you up!"

Lily had been late for Transfiguration, but on showing a note to Professor McGonagall, she got through unscathed. It wasn't until they were walking to Potions that she was able to tell Sam why Gilbert had called her behind, and by then she could barely contain her excitement.

"Professor Gilbert's going to give me private tutoring!" she gushed, with a beam to rival Gilbert's himself. "He said I was the best flyer of the bunch today, and with a little bit of training, I could make the team before this year is over!"

Sam was pleased for her friend, but honestly she couldn't see what the excitement was all about. Maybe she just didn't understand Quidditch enough.

They lined up outside the Potions dungeon, and found Hugo, who'd been very quiet since the Flying lesson.

"Are you okay, Hu?" Lily asked, and Hugo simply nodded, keeping his eyes downcast. Lily looked like she wanted to press it further, but then decided to think better of it. Then the door opened, and Professor Slughorn came out. He was a short and stout fellow, who vaguely resembled a walrus with his bushy silver moustache, which quivered as he smiled at the congrgation of first year Gryffindors and Slytherins.

"Welcome all of you, to Hogwarts!" he said jovially. "And welcome to Potions, where your wand is merely a stirring implement! Potions will test your raw skill," he continued, eyeing all of them. "And I hope many of you will show that skill. Right, come in, come in! Oh, just to inform you, I have taken the liberty of constructing a seating plan: I think sitting next to an unfamiliar person will really help you reach for your inner talent!"

Lily groaned. "He's going to make it so we have to sit next to a Slytherin...slimy idiots," she grumbled. Looking around, Sam saw that several other classmates had had the same reaction.

Slughorn began to distribute the seats. "Right, Miss Fletcher, you can sit with Mr Creevey..."

Lily ended up sitting next to Carina Malfoy. Both of them seemed disgusted by the arrangement. Next to Sam, who had not yet been placed, Hugo chuckled slightly, and Sam turned to him curiously, to see why his dark mood had suddenly been lifted. Hugo muttered to her, "Lily's dad and Malfoy's dad were arch enemies at school. Lily grew up with a bit of a disliking for Malfoys...as did our family. But the Malfoys aren't so bad: after the War, Draco Malfoy made a public apology and helped to rebuild Hogwarts...and if you ask Rose, Scorpius - Carina's brother - isn't so bad, although my father would disagree...but Lily still doesn't like Carina, and it seems the feeling's mutual...maybe there's something more to it?" he murmured the last bit as if almost to himself. Before Sam could ask what he meant, Hugo was seated with Royce Zabini.

There were only four students left; Aidan Finnigan, Cane Goyle, the blue-eyed boy from the boat (Sam took a moment to recall his name- Tristan Peake) and Sam herself.

Sam sighed. This wasn't looking good; there was no chance she'd get to sit with Aidan, and if she was placed next to Goyle she would stab her eyes out with her new wand. She didn't know Peake very well, but he seemed quiet, so to have him as a partner would probably be excrutiatingly boring. Either way, she wasn't looking forward to finding out her Potions partner.

"...and Miss McCarty, you can go with Mr Peake. I have a feeling you'll work fine together." Slughorn announced.

Don't hold your breath, Sam thought. Oddly enough, she felt more sorry for Aidan at this point, who looked positively green at the thought of being stuck with Goyle.

Sam walked over to an empty desk, adjacent to the one that Hugo sat with Zabini, and sat down. Hugo sent her a sympathetic smile, which she returned along with a roll of her eyes.

Slughorn clapped his hands twice.

"Good," he said, with satisfaction. "Now I can get to know you all better."

Two rows in front of her, Sam saw Lily sigh with a huge heave of her shoulders, though she didn't know what had elicted this response.

"Greengrass," he said, and the two dark-haired girls sitting on two separate desks looked up. "Would you be related to Astoria and Daphne Greengrass, both of whom were former students and Slytherins of mine?"

Both girls nodded slowly. "They are our aunts," Bella volunteered. "Our father is their brother, Rupert."

Slughorn frowned. "Rupert Greengrass? I did not teach him..."

"He was educated at Durmstrang," Stephanie explained, and Slughorn, appeased, moved on, not commenting on anybody until he stopped at Lily.

"Ah, Miss Potter, my dear!" He exclaimed. Sam couldn't see Lily's face, but she imagined that her friend was wearing the polite smile that she gave to everyone who put as much emphasis on the word 'Potter' as much as Slughorn just had.

"Would you, by any chance be related to Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived, The Chosen One, The Master of Death, The Defender of the Wizarding World?" Slughorn asked, and with every new title, Sam cringed at how embarrasing this was for Lily.

"Of course she bloody is, you had to ask?" Tristan Peake muttered to her left, and Sam couldn't help herself agreeing. Everyone knew the Potters here, so why should Slughorn be any different.

Lily nodded her head. "Yes. He's my father."

Slughorn smiled. "Ah, Harry was a marvellous student. Had his mother's natural flair for Potions...and Miss Weasley too, her Defensive Skills were truly admirable, even at fifteen..." he said with a nostalgic air. "And now I teach the entire new generation of Potters! I'm honoured!"

Lily didn't know what to say; she just bowed her head demurely.

"Sir?" someone called out. It was Sol Dariand. "Sir, you may have known my late uncle, Vincent Crabbe? He died a hero in the war, Sir?" he asked, in a ridiculously eager fashion that had Sam curling her lip in distaste. To her satisfaction, Slughorn barely nodded at Dariand, and continued round the class, leaving a rather disgruntled Slytherin in his wake.

The lesson continued like this for the best part of fifteen minutes, with Slughorn stopping at certain students to discern their various connections, as if they were collectors' items.

"Sam McCarty," Slughorn announced. "Do you, per chance, happen to know a Mrs Edwina McCarty, Founder of the Magical Enchantment Victims Foundation?"

Sam shook her head. "No Sir. I don't know my family," she said with a small shrug. Slughorn frowned slightly, but appeared to decide not to press the matter, and moved on to Tristan Peake.

"Ah, Mr Peake! A very well-known and well-respected name of the Slytherin House, equal to that of Malfoy!" Slughorn exclaimed. "An honour to meet you, young man! And may you impress me as much as your dear sisters have before you! Tell me, what does Sophia do now?"

Tristan looked slightly uncomfortable but addressed Slughorn politely. "Magical Law Enforcement, Sir."

"Oh, excellent. And Isabella? As Head Girl here at the moment, I'd imagine she will aspire to do something equally as worthwhile..."

"I don't know, Sir." Peake replied, with a subtle tone of finality which had Slughorn swiftly moving on to the next pupil.

Eventually, Slughorn decided to actually begin the lesson, and in Sam's eyes it wasn't a moment too soon. He then set some questions for the students to answer in pairs, and as Sam reached into her bag for a quill, something a little unexpected happened.

"So, you don't know your family?"

Sam looked up and realised that Tristan Peake was addressing her. She cocked an eyebrow defensively.

"So?" she replied shortly.

Peake shrugged. "So nothing. Just thought it was interesting." he said indifferently.

"Why?"

"Well, it just is. Your parents could be anybody. You could be Muggleborn, you could be related to the biggest Pureblood family in the world..."

"Like you?"

"Maybe. Either way, you don't have to worry about living up to anything." Tristan said quietly. "You're lucky."

The bell rang then, and there was a scuffle of chairs and books as general chatter broke out. Sam swept her books into her bag and stood up, before bending down close to Peake.

"My parents didn't want me, and abandoned me on an orphanage doorstep. I don't know who they are, they could be dead for all I know; and I have spent every day of my life fighting for survival in a hellhole, only to find I don't belong there either. Does that sound lucky to you?" she said in a low monotone.

And without sparing the boy a second glance, Sam left the dungeon.

A/N: I know it's been a long time, and I'm sorry! But I will try to write and update more. Hopefully I will get more of a response from you guys that way :)

Anyways, what do you think? lots of new characters here :)

Please leave me your thoughts. Take care xx 


	5. Chapter 5

... Chapter 5

_"Dear Mum and Dad,_

_I said I'd write again soon, didn't I? So here it is. It's been a really crazy few days here, but guess what? Professor Gilbert (our flying instructor) says I should try out for the Quidditch team! He reckons I'm good enough, but he's also giving me some private tutoring. I'm so excited! It's a shame I won't have my own Nimbus 3021 but Professor Gilbert says he has a spare Firebolt Four which he said I can borrow if I get on the team..._

_Anyway, I also wondered if you'd heard from Jamie at all? He's been acting really odd, and won't talk to me or Albus. Fred says his performance on the team is suffering too...maybe he's told you..."_

Lily put a hand over her parchment as she heard someone approach from behind. When she saw it was only Sam and Hugo, she relaxed.

"Hey," she said with a smile, and Hugo and Sam responded in kind and sat beside her at the large wooden table in the library.

"What're you up to?" Hugo asked quietly, keeping an eye out for Madam Pince, who was bound to swoop down on them and kick them out the minute she heard them talking, even though it was the weekend.

Lily began to roll up her parchment. "Just writing a letter, I'll finish it later." she said, putting it into her bag. "Have you guys done the Herbology essay?"

"You mean, 'The Properties of Simple Herbs'?" Hugo replied. "Yep. Did it last night. You?"

Both Lily and Sam shook their heads. Sam realised she'd have to do it soon, or she'd end up behind on homework already. She wouldn't have been worried, except she'd never written a real essay in her life. Sure, she could answer questions, or write a letter, or an extended answer, but she'd never been at a school long enough to carry out research and write down a whole essay, let alone a two-foot essay, which equalled to maybe two thousand words. She wasn't looking forward to it, but she knew it'd be a good experience for her.

"You should have been a Ravenclaw like Rosie, Hu," Lily said with a smirk. "You're too organised for the likes of us!"

The trio stifled their laughter. Hugo raised an eyebrow. "It's not hard to just do your homework, Lils, you don't need to be a Ravenclaw to be able to do it!"

Lily blew him off dismissively. "Yes, well I have bigger things to worry about..."

Hugo snorted. "Like Professor Gilbert, you mean?" he asked snarkily.

"Uh-huh...I really wanna make the team." Lily explained, seemingly missing the bitter tone to her cousin's voice. "James made Keeper in his first year, I want to show that I can too...but not Keeper. I want to play Chaser mostly, like Mum."

"Well, even if you make the sub team, that's an achievement, right?" Hugo said, and Lily agreed. Sam was getting tired of all this Quidditch talk. She didn't completely understand the game yet, and had only ridden a broom once, so she couldn't really participate in the conversation. She got up and went to browse the shelves. At the other end of the library, sitting at a smaller table by a window, was Tristan Peake and Carina Malfoy. Peake and Malfoy were leaning over a large book, occassionally pointing out passages to eachother. It was the first time in days that Sam had seen Peake away from his two cronies, Sol Dariand and Cane Goyle, and he looked noticebly more at ease.

Sam watched the two of them for a while, mostly for want of something better to do.

"You can come and join us, Sam. Contrary to popular belief, Slytherins don't bite."

Sam jumped as Carina Malfoy addressed her. She hadn't realised that they had noticed her presence. She looked into the dark grey irises of the Malfoy girl, and was slightly taken aback when she smiled prettily. "Come and sit with us," she said, patting the seat next to her.

As friendly as Carina was being, Sam couldn't help glancing at Peake, who had been watching her intently, but when they made eye-contact, he quickly looked away. Sam was reminded by her previous interaction with him in Potions, and the irritation bubbled inside her as she remembered his tactless statement.

"No, no, it's fine..." Sam began, backing away purposely. "I'm just gonna go back to Lily and Hugo, actually."

Carina's face fell. "It's honestly no trouble, Sam," she insisted. "Tristan and I are working on our Potions assignment, you know, the questions? You can join us, get it out of the way..."

Sam thought about the assignment. It wasn't particularly difficult. However, she had piles of homework waiting for her in the Common Room: maybe it would be a good thing to get some done now, after all, Lily and Hugo were just chatting, she'd never get any work done sitting with them. And besides, she didn't have to talk to Peake.

Sam sat down at the table, next to Carina.

The three of them sat in a rather awkward silence for a minute or so, glancing at one another. Then Tristan spoke, after a soft cough.

"Listen, Sam..." he said hesitantly. "I'm sorry about what I said, if it offended you..."

Sam didn't need to ask what he was referring to; the time in Potions was the only time they had spoken to each other. She nodded. "It did offend me," she said simply. "Because you made assumptions. I don't like people who make assumptions. So if you want to stay on my good side- which is actually smaller than my bad side - remember that."

Tristan looked her in the eyes and nodded. Without anything specifically being said, the Gryffindor and Slytherin had made a truce. For how long, neither of them knew.

Carina watched the two of them closely, before deciding to step in and change the subject. "So...what question did you get to, Sam?"

The moment was broken and the three of them began to work, all differences momentarily forgotten.

The peace did not last long. The door to the library opened and a shadow fell over Sam's workspace. She glanced up and sighed inwardly. It was Dariand and Goyle.

"Whatcha doing sitting with the Slytherins, orphan?" Dariand sneered. Sam looked at him and rolled her eyes.

"Working," she said, slowly and deliberately, as if Dariand was stupid.

Dariand sneered. "Sitting with the Slytherins, polluting the air with your Mudblood germs? That's not 'working', orphan." he said venomous and pushed Sam off her chair.

Sam stumbled but didn't quite hit the floor. She jumped up and balled her fists in Dariand's face. "You push like a girl, Dariand," she hissed at him. "Don't you remember what happened to you the last time you pushed me?"

The only indication of Dariand's recollection of that incident a few days ago was a slight tinge of pink appearing on his cheeks. He narrowed his eyes and drew his wand, pointing it in Sam's face. "Try anything, orphan. I know how to use this."

Carina Malfoy jumped up. "Sol, don't be stupid-" she said, aghast.

"Stay out of this, Carrie," Sol said, and Carina glared at him. "You shouldn't mix with people like her anyway. And you, Peake-" Sam glanced at Tristan; she had forgotten he was there. He was watching the whole scene, his bright eyes flitting from one person to another, but his face was devoid of all expression. Anger bubbled inside Sam; for some reason, seeing Tristan Peake just sitting and watching made her more angry than Dariand and his insults. She swung her eyes back to Dariand and in a moment of instinct, drew her own wand. She felt the wood vibrate in her grip, almost in anticipation.

Carina stood behind Sam and grabbed her elbow. "Don't do it, Sam." she said earnestly, but Sam barely heard her. Her insides were quivering with ire. Suddenly she wanted to hurt them, hurt them all.

Hurt Dariand, for his insults and taunts.

Hurt Goyle, for his stupid smirk.

Hurt Peake, for doing nothing.

Hurt Carina, for trying to stop her.

She shrugged off Carina's hand and lowered her wand. She took a step towards Dariand, a look of complete hatred on her face. She whispered four words.

"You're not worth it."

And she walked away.

Suddenly there was a flash of red light, a searing pain in her back, and Sam saw no more.

.oOo.

Sam became aware of voices buzzing around her. Her eyes flickered open, and her violet irises caught the gaze of Professor Rondinio's dark brown ones. He gave her a wry smile. "Good," he said. "You're awake."

"Where am I?" Sam muttered.

"The hospital wing," Rondinio said. "You took a Stunner to the back."

Sam frowned. She had no idea what the professor was talking about. "Stunner?"

An elderly lady in white overalls appeared behind the headmaster and handed him a vial full of a blue liquid. "Give this to her; she'll be more coherent," she said.

Rondinio passed Sam the vial and she drama from it. The potion burned as it went down her throat, but Sam felt instantly more awake. "What was that?" she asked hoarsely.

"Pepper-Up Potion. Madam Pomfrey says you should take it. Now, can you tell me what happened in the library earlier?" The professor asked. "I've spoken to Miss Malfoy, and I believe Mr Dariand was the spellcaster."

Sam nodded. "He wanted to punish me for sitting with Slytherins."

"Did you threaten him at all?"

"He drew his wand first," Sam explained. "And he pushed me off my chair."

The professor nodded. "Right. Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but unfortunately, despite the fact that you were hexed, I have to give you detention, which will take place next Saturday evening."

Sam sat up with a start. "What?" she yelled. "What the hell for?"

"Language, Sam," the professor chastised half-heartedly. "I'm afraid you broke a rule, and drew your wand in the library. However, as you were knocked unconscious, and it is clear that you did not begin the fight, no points will be taken from Gryffindor." he smiled again. "I think you've lost enough points this week."

Sam looked down. She wasn't proud of losing all those points from Helborne. But she was still furious about being given detention.

"Who else got detention?" she asked, not even bothering to keep her tone polite. "If you don't say Dariand, I'm leaving this place."

"Mr Dariand did indeed receive a number of detentions," Rondinio confirmed. "As did Miss Malfoy."

"What did she do?" Sam asked, shocked.

Rondinio stood up. "I believe she's waiting outside, she can tell you herself," he said, before nodding in farewell to Sam and leaving the hospital wing.

After a moment, Carina Malfoy came in and made her way to Sam's bed. "I'm sorry about Sol, Sam. His parents are a little...old fashioned I guess."

Sam shrugged but didn't comment.

"We've got detention on Saturday, you and I," Carina said. "My dad is going to kill me when he finds out."

"How will he find out?" Sam asked with a frown.

"I have a stupid big brother, who will tell him, out of pure spite," Carina said with a sigh.

Sam felt a pang of sympathy for the blonde girl, and suddenly felt oddly thankful that she didn't have any siblings. "What did you do anyway, to get detention?"

Carina smirked. "I was going to hex Sol. Sadly, Madam Pince got there first, and I never got a chance."

While Sam was tickled by the fact that Sol almost got his comeuppance, she felt a little confused over something. Why was Carina Malfoy defending her? They didn't even know eachother, really.

"Why did you-" she began, but was interrupted by the doors opening again. Albus Potter strode in, closely followed by Hugo.

"Albus, what-" Sam began, confused by the anger and worry etched onto his face.

"Sam, what the hell happened?" he asked. "Hu said you were attacked-"

"-I just got into a little skirmish, Albus-"

"-A skirmish which got you put in the hospital wing-"

"-just as a precaution-"

"I'm going to kill Dariand-"

"Why do you even care, Albus?" Sam asked suddenly. "I've been at this school for just over a week, and you come in here declaring that you are going to kill someone who I got into a fight with. That doesn't make sense."

Albus came to sit on the edge of Sam's bed. "Sam, you're my sister's best friend. I look out for you the same way I look out for Lily. Is that so hard to understand?"

Sam frowned. "Yes. Yes it is."

Albus smiled. "Well get used to it, Sam. For as long as you're friends with Lily, you'll have to put up with me."

Sam thought this sounded nice, to have someone looking out for her, even if she didn't quite understand the reason behind it. It was almost like having a big brother of her own, despite her not wanting one just a few minutes before in light of Carina's brother.

"Talking of Lily," Carina said, interrupting Sam's contemplating. "Where is she? I was under the impression you were friends."

Albus shot Carina a dirty look. "Shut up, Malfoy. Why are you here anyway?"

Ignoring Albus' venomous tone, Carina shrugged. "I was there when it happened."

"Egging Dariand on, no doubt."

"Uh, not really, I got detention for attempting to hex him," Carina replied conversationally. Albus looked shocked for a moment before he recovered and smoothed his face into calm indifference.

Hugo answered Carina's original question. "Lily's at a Flying lesson. She would have stayed but she couldn't let Gilbert down."

Sam shrugged. She wasn't too worried that Lily wasn't there, she would see her later, and Sam wasn't so useless that she couldn't do anything without Lily by her side.

.oOo.

After dinner, Madam Pomfrey gave Sam the all clear to leave the hospital wing and go back to the Common Room. Sam went straight to her dormitory, suddenly tired by the day's events. She flopped onto her bed and her little kitten leapt onto her belly. Sam tickled the animal's chin and she purred delightfully.

"Hello, you," Sam murmured fondly. "How are you?"

Sam smiled when the kitten licked her fingertips with its rough little tongue. She recalled the day she first met the little creature...

* * *

><p><em>Professor Rondinio and Sam walked down the street at Diagon Alley, Sam pulling her full trunk on small castors behind her over the cobbles. She'd thought they were finished; they'd gotten everything on the list, so she was very confused when Rondinio led her into the Pet Emporium. Inside was a cavernous space, full of every type of pet imaginable, or so it seemed; cats, rats, toads and owls appeared to be in the most abundant supply.<em>

_"Pick one." Rondinio said simply. Sam stared at him, wondering if he seriously meant what she thought he meant._

_She shook her head. "I'd rather save the money. I don't need a pet." Sam told him, but he held up a hand in protest._

_"You told me today that you have no family and that your only friend is Annie. While I'm sure you will make friends at Hogwarts, I believe a companion would be good for you. Saving your money is a good idea, which is why I am paying for this personally." Rondinio replied._

_Sam tried to protest, but Rondinio finally convinced her, with a twinkle in his eye, saying, "I'll throw the money away if you don't want to spend it."_

_And that was that._

_Sam walked along the aisles, excited despite her initial reluctance. She had always wanted a pet, although they were not allowed at the children's home. A majestic tawny owl hooted from beside her, and she looked at it closely. According to Rondinio, owls were also good at carrying mail, which sounded interesting to Sam, but she had no one to send mail to anyway._

_She stopped at the cats, looking at all the tiny furry bundles mewing and jostling for her attention. They were all positively adorable. At the back of one enclosure, where all of the kittens were playfully leaping up at Sam, she saw a tiny furry black ball. Sam reached her hand in to touch it, curiously. She could hardly stop herself._

_The bundle uncurled into one of the small kittens she had ever seen; stretched out it was smaller than her forearm. Its feet were white, and its back left paw was white halfway up its leg. It turned its head towards her and opened its eyes sleepily, capturing Sam in its gaze._

_Sam blinked incredulously. The violet eyes staring intently at her were exactly the same shade as her own. The kitten purred softly and rubbed its head against Sam's outstretched hand._

_"Looks like someone has taken a shine to you." Rondinio said, approaching Sam's left, and she looked at him with a half-smile._

_"I guess so." she murmured, and looked back at the cat, which had turned to face Rondinio, who did a double take._

_"Sweet Merlin!" He exclaimed, before appearing to regain some composure._

_"Merlin?" Sam said sceptically, eyebrow raised. "Don't tell me he's real too."_

_"I'll leave it to your History of Magic teacher." Rondinio said with a smile. "Which one are you getting?"_

_"I think it has to be this one." Sam said with conviction, stroking the kitten again._

_"Quite right too." Rondinio said, looking at the kitten with renewed approval. The shopkeeper shuffled up, looking happy._

_"Do you want this one?" She asked in a voice that reminded Sam of gravel. She too noticed the violet eyes Sam and the kitten shared, and after a moment of mild shock, she chuckled. "A perfect choice, clearly. These sort of things are never co-incidences. She's a girl, about two months old." She scooped up the kitten and took it to the counter._

_"Wait..." Sam said, a thought she'd had earlier suddenly sinking in. "I can't take her back with me, can I? We're not allowed pets at the home..." she trailed off, suddenly rather dejected. She had grown attached to the kitten already, and to now not be able to have her..._

_"You are new Hogwarts stock, correct?" The woman said, glancing at Professor Rondinio, who nodded. "Well then, I'll come by the station on September the first, and I'll bring her along for you to pick her up."_

_"You'd do that?" Sam said in disbelief, not used to the kindness._

_"Of course I would. But first you must name her." The woman said with a smile. Sam stared at the kitten - her new pet -prancing around the counter, with an energy that was so endearing. Where the little thing found the energy to be so active was a mystery._

_"Mystery." Sam said, "I think it would suit her. I shall call her Mystery."_

_"That would make the two of you," Rondinio chuckled._

* * *

><p>Mystery was gallivanting around Sam's four-poster bed when the other girls came in to the dormitory to get ready for bed. Lily came over immediately to start fussing over Sam, apologising profusely for not being there at the hospital wing, and Sam blew her off, insisting she was fine, and besides, Albus was more than enough as a visitor.<p>

Sam looked around at the other girls getting out their pyjamas. Then a thought hit her.

"Where's Morgan?" she asked abruptly. The other three girls stopped and looked around, they too only just noticing that their roommate was missing.

"Maybe she's in the Common Room and we just missed her?" Erin suggested.

Shania left the room and ran down the stairs. A minute later she returned, a frown on her face. "She's not there," she reported. "And it's past curfew, she should be back by now..."

Lily spoke up, "maybe she's spending the night in another house? I know she's friends with Diana Hammond, maybe it's a sleepover?"

"Wouldn't she have mentioned it?" Shania asked worriedly.

The girls all hummed and nodded in agreement. They all spoke to each other enough that Morgan probably would have mentioned it. Lily decided to make an executive decision. "Well, if she's not back in time for first period tomorrow, we will go to Longbottom then. For now, let's assume she's at a sleepover, and get some sleep ourselves, yeah?"

They all agreed and continued getting into bed.

.oOo.

The moon was casting a beam of light over Sam's cheek as she slept. The heavy wooden of the dormitory door eased open with only the tiniest creak, but Sam's eyes shot open. Years of learning to sleep light in case a bully tried to get you in your sleep was a instinct not easily forgotten. She looked towards the door, and saw a figure creep through the door and make their way across the room.

"Morgan?" Sam whispered, aware of the other sleeping girls. The figure started a little, before turning and coming over to Sam's bed.

It was Morgan.

"Sam...sorry, did I wake you?" She whispered apologetically.

"No, no, I'm a light sleeper," Sam assured her. "Where the hell have you been, Morgan?"

In the dim light, Sam saw Morgan shake her head. "It doesn't matter," she said.

"What do you mean?"

Morgan got up to go back to her own bed. "Don't worry about it, Sam. Sorry to wake you."

"Okay..." Sam said, unsure about what she should say. "Well, if you're sure..."

Morgan climbed into bed. "Yeah, I'm sure. Thanks, Sam," she whispered.

Sam settled down in her own bed again, and once more, fell asleep.

..oOo.

A/N: That was a speedy update, wasn't it? Please continue to share your comments by leaving a review.

Take care xx


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Following the drama of the first few weeks at Hogwarts, Sam found herself settling into her new routine. She had carried out her detention with Professor Helborne, which, as she had expected, had not been very pleasant; scraping the bottoms of all the desks in his classroom without magic. The only thing that had made it slightly bearable was the fact that Helborne had not spoken to her once, save when he gave the orders to begin and end. Still, she walked around with a stiff back for a week afterwards.

Sam had formed something of a companionship with Carina Malfoy since that detention. While they were nowhere near as close friends as she and Lily were, it was enough that they said hello in the corridor, or occasionally worked on homework assignments in the library if they happened to bump into each other. It was a friendly, tolerable acquaintanceship, and Sam found herself liking the Slytherin for her independent nature, and the fact that she refused to join in with some of her fellow Slytherins when they teased the other students, especially the Gryffindors.

Sam couldn't say the same about her Potions partner, Tristan Peake. Since the incident in the library, Sam had not spoken to him, nor had Peake made any effort to talk to her. They worked together in silence, somehow succeeding in creating the desired potion without any communication. While the arrangement could hardly be considered conducive to a positive working environment, it suited Sam down to the ground. At least they were not openly arguing like Carina and Lily often did. It seemed that they had an argument about every decision they had to make. Often they were carried out in irritated whispers, but occasionally, their voices would carry up to where Sam sat at the back:

"Malfoy, you idiot, I was supposed to add the Billywig tails before you went and dumped the ruddy salamander scales in..."

"Well, if you'd been paying attention, Potter, and not been making cow-eyes at Finnigan, then you would have seen that it was ready for you to put the tails in!"

"I was NOT 'making cow-eyes at Finnigan', whatever the hell that means! Oh, Merlin, Malfoy, I swear, if you muck this up for us, I will —"

Normally, by this point, Slughorn would step in and try to mollify the two agitated girls, and although most of the time they stopped arguing, any onlookers would see the two of them shooting daggers at the other.

Of course, it didn't help Lily that Sam was almost friendly with Carina Malfoy.

"Why are you friends with her anyway, Sam?" Lily had asked one day.

Sam had shrugged. "She's always been nice to me," she'd replied. It made perfect sense to her.

"But she's horrible!" Lily had exclaimed. It was somewhat true — Carina didn't pass up on a chance to make a sarcastic comment to Lily. But while Sam was best friends with Lily, she also knew Carina liked to wind Lily up, just because it was such an easy task. It seemed harmless to Sam.

"Well, she's not horrible to me, Lil," she had said reasonably. "And she's a good homework partner when you're at flying practice."

And while Lily had mumbled something about Hugo being a perfectly good homework partner, she had let the issue drop. Lily knew that once Sam made up her mind on something, she was not going to change unless she was given a very good reason to.

* * *

><p>Before they knew it, Christmas was upon them. The Scottish hills of Hogwarts were capped with snow, and the castle itself had become dressed in festive spirit: boughs of holly appeared to grow from the walls, every corridor was adorned in charmed sparkling ivy, every hall contained a large glistening Christmas tree. Sam had no idea how the tree which stood at the front of the Great Hall even got in there; the tree was over fifteen feet tall, and every inch was decorated with baubles and ribbons. Every now and again, charmed snow would fall from the enchanted ceiling, and all in all, it felt very much like Christmas was around the corner.<p>

One particularly frosty December morning in the Great Hall, Sam, Lily, Hugo and Colin Creevey had just tucked into their breakfast. It was relatively early; a number of students and even a few teachers hadn't arrived yet, since breakfast didn't officially start for another fifteen minutes.

Sam had just picked up her glass of pumpkin juice (which, contrary to what she'd expected, she had gotten used to surprisingly quickly), when Roxanne, Lily and Hugo's cousin approached them.

"Hiya kids," she said warmly. "Ready for the match?"

They all nodded. The final Quidditch match of the term was taking place later that morning. It was one of the reasons they had gone down to breakfast early; the Great Hall was unbelievably noisy on Match Day, and it was often nigh on impossible to eat comfortably when all the players and supporters were bustling around in excitement and anticipation.

Naturally, it didn't help, of course, that the final match before Christmas was Gryffindor versus Slytherin. The fierce rivalry between their houses dated back to the age of the Founders, and although it was natural for house rivalry to ensue at a Quidditch match, this was of a higher scale, as it often was with the two houses.

At the moment, Ravenclaw was currently leading the fight for the Quidditch Cup, but whoever won this match would be in the running at second place.

Lily looked up at Roxanne, who was pouring milk on her cereal. "So, what do you think, Rox? Will we win?"

Roxanne laughed. "Anything's possible, Lils. But Daisy has put together a strong team, and as long as your brother keeps to his game and doesn't play as badly as he did back in September, we should have a good chance."

As if on cue, the Gryffindor Quidditch team arrived in the Great Hall, already donning their scarlet kit. They sat in a group a few seats down from Sam and her friends, and began to dig in enthusiastically. Sam watched them chatting animatedly before returning her focus to her own plate.

"James is fine now, then?" She asked Lily, who nodded.

"Yeah," she said. "He never said what was wrong." She polished off the last of her bacon and stood up. "C'mon, guys," she said to them all. "We need to get a good seat."

Hugo and Colin stood up with amused smiles, leaving the last remains of their breakfast to follow Lily. Hugo glanced at Sam, who hadn't made a move to get up.

"Sam?" he asked. The blonde girl shrugged in reply.

"I'll catch you up," she replied. She wanted to finish her toast; perhaps it was habit, instilled from years at the children's home, but she always finished what was on her plate, despite the fact that Hogwarts provided enough food each day to feed a small army.

As the boys nodded and left, Albus Potter appeared at the table opposite. "Morning," he nodded, and Sam gave a small nod in response. She hadn't spoken more than a few words to him since she had been in the hospital wing back in September.

"Are you watching the match today?" he asked after a pause.

Sam nodded again without looking at him. She heard Albus sigh.

"Sam...I know I annoyed you that time after the fight you had in the library, with what I said afterwards, to Malfoy," he said, talking to his bacon.

Sam made no response. Albus continued.

"I just...I mean, Malfoy's dad and my dad were enemies at school. I guess the rivalry sort of filtered down to us, especially through Uncle Ron. He really hates the Malfoys still. I don't know Sam...normally I don't let it get to me, I normally don't care about Malfoys being Malfoys, they're still people, and I have no problem with Slytherins — well, except Dariand and Goyle, 'cause they're vile — but ... I guess what I'm trying to say is —"

He broke off as Sam stood up and walked out of the Great Hall, leaving a bewildered and then a dejected Albus Potter watching after her.

* * *

><p>Sam hadn't wanted to listen to Albus' poor attempt at an apology. While it had been nice that he had wanted to defend her since she was Lily's best friend, the way he had turned on Carina had irritated her. How could he judge her so quickly? And seriously, if Carina really had been a threat to Sam, why on Earth would Sam have allowed her in the Hospital Wing at all?<p>

She walked quickly outside to the Quidditch Pitch, where the stands were already filled up, forming two opposing seas of emerald and scarlet, although the Ravenclaws seemed eager to sport the blue out of support of their currently winning team. She made her way up to where she knew Lily and Hugo would be, at their usual spot about half way up the stands. Sure enough, after climbing a number of flights of stairs, she saw Lily waving.

"Sam, where've you been? It's gonna start soon!" Lily said excitedly. Sam shrugged, then reached into her bag and pulled out her striped Gryffindor scarf, wrapping it tightly round her neck to stop the chilly air biting at her bare skin.

"Finishing breakfast," she said simply.

Before Lily had a chance to question her friend further, Professor Rondinio appeared in the Top Stand and the crowd cheered deafeningly. He held up his hands and the students immediately fell silent, a hush of anticipation lingering over them all.

"Welcome, all," Rondinio said, his magically amplified voice carrying over the stands, "to the fifth Quidditch match of the season; Gryffindor versus Slytherin," The crowd roared in approval at the idea of the imminent match. "So, without any further ado, I give you the commentator for this match, Olivia West!"

A tall girl with dark brown braided hair stepped out on to the stand, and waved to the cheering crowd. Olivia was a sixth year Hufflepuff, and she was a regular Quidditch commentator, and while occasionally other students tried their hand at providing commentary on the game, Olivia found herself back by popular demand.

"Hello, everyone!" she shouted, and the crowd yelled back in response. "Shall we get this thing started then?" While Sam clapped, Lily enthusiastically whooped and cheered beside her.

"So, for the Slytherin Team, we have...the notorious Nott brothers, Canes, Flint, Malfoy, annnnnnd...your captain, Zabini!" Seven blurs of green came shooting onto the pitch, accompanied by claps from the audience and deafening cheers from the Slytherin supporters.

"Were all the Nott brothers playing last time?" Sam asked Lily, who shook her head.

"No, only Edward and Francis were, Leopald was in the Hospital Wing."

The three Nott brothers, Edward, Leopald and Francis were Chasers on the Slytherin team, a well-known trio and a formidable force on the pitch, as they had been since the youngest, Francis had joined the team in his second year. Now, three years later, the brothers had a reputation for fantastic performance and flawless teamwork.

Olivia was now announcing the Gryffindor team; "I give you, Weasley, Kent, Dowd, Weasley, Potter, Jones, annnnnnnd...your captain, Finnigan!" The team, clad in scarlet zoomed out on to the pitch and circled the stands. Lily and Hugo waved their flags in the air manically as the team sped past them in the stands, while Sam simply grinned and clapped.

The game got underway quickly, and soon enough, Gryffindor were in the lead, with forty points to Slytherin's ten points. It seemed James was on top form as Keeper, as he saved four goals in quick succession, much to the chagrin of the Nott brothers as they tried to score. Marco Zabini, the opposing Keeper, however, was struggling to keep up with the pace at which Daisy Finnigan and her two other Chasers were hurling the Quaffle at the hoops.

Sam watched the game, still not completely understanding all of the rules, but knowing enough to be able to cheer when Gryffindor scored.

"And finally Nott scores! A clever feint by the trio had Potter going the wrong way..." Olivia shouted over the crowd as Leopald Nott triumphantly zoomed around the pitch. "Bad luck, Potter!"

James looked positively livid at having let the goal in, and his face was thunderous when Daisy Finnigan flew over to him for a quick word. He barely looked at her, and when she had finished, he flew back to the centre hoop, watching the game with a glower.

"What's up with James?" Hugo asked curiously. "He's only let in two goals, we're still winning."

Lily shrugged. "He's just being James. You get used to it."

"And Finnigan has possession, she passes to Weasley - oh, watch out, a well-timed Bludger from Flint there -" Sam winced as the Bludger flew towards George Weasley, but he spun expertly on his broom, rolling upside down. He did, however, drop the Quaffle, and Edward Nott intercepted it, sending the Quaffle back down towards James.

"Right, Potter, be ready now," Olivia said, "Francis has possession - Edward - and back to Francis, and over to Leopald, who shoots, and- a great save from Potter!"

The Gryffindors cheered and James waved, a clear look of relief on his face.

"What's this?" Olivia shouted. "Looks like Jones has seen the Snitch! She's shot off, now Malfoy is hot on her tail -"

Sam watched as Gwen Jones, a tiny fourth year, zipped in and out of the other players, her eyes intent on the tiny golden ball which was shooting all over the place about ten metres in front of her. Not very far behind her was Carina's brother Scorpius, his face a mask of concentration as he pushed his body flush with the handle of his broom, urging it to go faster. The gap between him and Gwen was getting smaller and smaller, and the crowd was screaming louder and louder in support.

"And Jones is reaching for the Snitch, only a few metres left -" Olivia was chanting. Suddenly, her voice changed from anticipation to concern. "Wait - what's happening to Finnigan?"

Sam tore her gaze away from the Seekers and searched the pitch for Daisy Finnigan. Sure enough, the Gryffindor captain was falling to the ground, slumped on her broom, unmoving. As everyone's attention was moved to her plummeting rapidly to the floor at a worrying speed, the crowd gasped, the Snitch forgotten. Daisy began to slip from her broom, and suddenly all of the players acted in unison, darting towards Daisy on their brooms as fast as they could.

Edward Nott reached her first, just metres from the ground, scooping her into his arms and landing as carefully as he could with his arms full. The rest of the players landed a few seconds later, and Madam Pomfrey, as well as a few Professors walked briskly onto the pitch.

"And with a player down, I do believe we have a postponed match, folks," Olivia announced over the noise, a mixture of gasps, concerned mutters and the occasional outraged mutter that the match was to be cancelled.

Leaning over in the stands, Sam watched as Madam Pomfrey conjured up a stretcher and levitated Daisy off the pitch.

"What's wrong with her?" Lily asked. "It's like she just fainted..."

Sam and Hugo simply looked at her, clearly as confused as she was. Sam looked down again. "What's Gilbert doing?" she asked, pointing to Professor Gilbert, who had entered the pitch to speak to Professor Rondinio, who looked surprised, but then nodded in agreement with whatever Gilbert had said.

The Headmaster placed his wand to his throat and suddenly his voice was amplified across the entire pitch. "I apologise to all of you for this interruption," he began. "I assure you, Miss Finnigan will make a full recovery. However, while she is a key player on the Gryffindor team, I have been informed that there is another player who can take her place as a Chaser, in order that we finish this match before we break up for the Christmas holiday. So, without any further ado, Miss Sophia Kent will step in as Captain -" Here, Rondinio nodded to another Gryffindor Chaser, who looked a little shaken at the events, but nevertheless nodded her agreement - "And if Miss Lily Potter could come down here, please, she will be standing in for Miss Finnigan, as the team do not currently have a substitute Chaser."

Sam looked at her friend in surprise, and saw that Lily appeared to have gone into shock. She looked at Sam.

"Me? Replace Daisy?" she said incredulously.

Sam chuckled at the shell-shocked look on her friend's face. "Yes, you, it's only for one match, don't get used to it!" She gave Lily a little shove in the direction of the stairs. "Go on, they're waiting!"

Shakily, Lily made her way to the steps, and disappeared down them.

Hugo looked at Sam. "Mental, isn't it?" he commented. "I mean, they don't normally let first years play."

From the other side of Sam, Colin Creevey leant over. "They let Harry Potter play in his first year..." he pointed out. "Is Lily any good?"

Both Sam and Hugo shrugged. Neither of them had seen Lily play.

Colin turned back to the pitch, where the Slytherin players appeared to be having a conference. "Well, let's hope she's good."

Sam couldn't help but agree, not for the sake of her team, but for the sake of her friend.

* * *

><p>Ten minutes later, and Lily had been kitted up and prepped for her first match. She stepped onto the pitch and the crowd went wild. While Lily tried to smile and wave, it was evident that she was sick with nerves.<p>

"And here we have Lily Potter, the youngest of the Potters, who is standing in for Finnigan as Chaser." Olivia was announcing. "Her first Quidditch match, she has never worked with the team before now. Of course, normally Pauline DeVenney would step in as Sub Chaser, but she is currently on a trip in the French Alps with the rest of her NEWT Care of Magical Creatures class...we will see shortly how Lily holds up in the team. Bear in mind, her father, Harry Potter, played for Gryffindor in his first year..."

Hugo groaned. "That's the worst thing Olivia could have said...Lily hates being compared to Uncle Harry." Sure enough, Lily now looked even paler, stark against her scarlet Quidditch robes.

The players kicked off and play resumed. Gryffindor got possession of the Quaffle almost immediately, with George Weasley speeding down to the hoops.

"Weasley passes to Kent, back to Weasley - oh, close shave there, almost intercepted by Francis Nott - over to Potter - and ah, bad luck there..."

Lily had had the Quaffle, and as she ducked to avoid Edward Nott, the ball had slipped from her hands and into the waiting arms of Leopald. The Gryffindor supporters groaned and Lily turned a deep shade of red.

"Don't worry Potter, there will be more chances!" Olivia was calling over the pitch.

Then Slytherin scored. James looked furious, but he merely threw the ball back over to Sophia Kent.

"It looks like the Gryffindor team are suffering without their Captain..." Olivia commented.

"C'mon, Lils..." Hugo was murmuring from beside Sam, willing her to do well.

"Potter has the Quaffle, she passes back to Kent, who sends it back quickly - it seems that Potter is warming up a bit now..."

And indeed she was; she seemed much more comfortable on her broom as she sped alongside Sophia. She caught the ball with ease and had her focus fixed on the hoops where Marco Zabini was holding fort. As a Bludger sped towards her she quickly passed the Quaffle to George Weasley on her right, but then received it again within a few seconds as George was tackled by Leopald Nott.

"And Potter back in possession, she approaches the hoops, Zabini has been in okay form this morning, how will he hold up against the littlest Potter - who shoots - TEN POINTS TO GRYFFINDOR!"

The crowd went wild as George gave Lily a huge pat on the back. She looked almost faint with relief as she smiled. Zabini threw the Quaffle back and play resumed once more.

Fifteen minutes later, and Gryffindor were leading with eighty points to fifty. Lily had scored one further goal, and she appeared to be growing in confidence the longer she spent in the air.

"Where's Malfoy?" Olivia asked suddenly, and everybody looked around, trying to spot the blonde Slytherin, who had suddenly darted very low and was now skimming across the pitch, very close to the ground. "It looks like he's seen the Snitch! Jones, attempting a sharp four-hundred foot dive - is that too risky? She is going very fast!"

Gwen Jones was shooting to the ground as fast as possible as Malfoy had his eye on the Snitch. He was gaining on it every second, and as Gwen corkscrewed to the ground, he stretched out to grab it, the golden ball mere inches from his fingertips.

"Is Jones going to make it? She might not have enough control to pull out of that dive -"

Gwen was perilously close to both Malfoy and the Snitch now. At a right angle to the ground, she slowly stretched her hand out to grab the Snitch.

"This could be a serious collision!" Olivia was crying. Everyone's eyes watched intently, as they got closer and closer. The audience was practically silent, all watching in nervous anticipation. Even the other players high above them had suspended their play to watch their Seekers with bated breath.

"And we have a crash, guys! Malfoy and Jones have hit each other!"

There was a sound of brooms clapping together, and both Malfoy and Jones rolled to the floor in a bundle of robes.

The spectators all froze, as neither of the Seekers moved. Sam saw Madam Pomfrey begin to make her way onto the pitch, when suddenly the two students began to disentangle themselves. They both slowly and shakily got to their feet, and brushed each other off, neither seeming to hold a grudge. They shook hands.

"But who has the Snitch?" Olivia asked the question which was on everybody's mind. The two Seekers grinned at each other, then Gwen raised a fist. Inside, was the furiously beating wings of the Golden Snitch.

The Gryffindors went crazy. The whoops and cheers and screams were completely deafening as Olivia yelled over the crowd "And Gwen Jones of Gryffindor has the Snitch! Gryffindor wins, two hundred and thirty points to fifty! That puts Gryffindor second in line to win the Cup! Congratulations!"

The remaining Gryffindor players in the air sped round the pitch in a victory lap, punching the air triumphantly. Sam cheered along with everyone else and waved as Lily and George sped past. The teams descended to the ground to see to Gwen, who was being fussed over by Madam Pomfrey, along with Scorpius Malfoy.

Hugo touched Sam's elbow. "C'mon, we'll meet them when they come out of the changing room," he said, and they made their way out of the stands with the crowds.

* * *

><p>Three hours later and a victory party in the Common Room was well underway. Lily was sitting with Sam and Hugo, and people kept coming over to congratulate the young girl. Lily was positively glowing at her success and couldn't stop grinning.<p>

Her enthusiasm was slightly marred by the fact that still no one knew what had happened to Daisy. The entire team had gone to visit her in the Hospital Wing after the match, and while she was conscious, she was very disorientated and confused as to what had happened. She admitted feeling a little nauseous before the match began, but once she started flying, she had felt fine.

"Then suddenly I was just dizzy, and I was falling." she said confusedly. "I remember Ed catching me, and that's it."

As Lily was telling the story to Hugo and Sam, Hugo frowned. "Since when was Edward Nott 'Ed'?" he asked, and Lily shrugged.

"I dunno. Anyway, she said well done to me for stepping in to her shoes, and she said I might even make the team next year if I train hard!" Lily squealed.

Sam smiled and got up. "Well, this has been an exciting day, but I still haven't done my essay for Professor Binns, so..."

"Oh, neither have I," Lily said. "We can do it later, don't you want to stay for the party?"

"I'm not really a party person," Sam said dryly. "See you later." She picked up her bag and made her way to the portrait hole.

"Oh, Sam!" Lily called. "I forgot; Mum wants to know if you have any plans for Christmas?"

Sam frowned and shook her head.

"You can come and spend it with us, if you want," Lily said. "There's plenty of space."

Sam grinned. "All right."

* * *

><p><strong><em>AN: I apologise for such a slow update; real life has been particularly hectic and I simply haven't had time to write. Also, this chapter appeared out of the blue - I had never intended to have a Quidditch match in it, and they are surprisingly difficult to write! So please let me know what you think, I am having an insecure phase! Thank you, and take care xx_**


	7. Chapter 7

**I Am Sam: Chapter 7**

The red train pulled into King's Cross Station in a triumphant cloud of billowing steam. The platform was already quite busy, with parents and other family members milling around the platform, waiting for the students to arrive. The Hogwarts Express slowed to a halt, and the carriage attendants began opening all of the doors. Slowly at first, the first students hopped down from the train. Then more and more students piled off the train, and suddenly the platform was completely buzzing as the children were reunited with their loved ones.

Lily, Hugo and Sam decided to take their time to get off the train, allowing the floods of students to rush off first, so they would not be separated from each other. As they descended the train, they noticed that the platform was a lot less crowded as families left the station, so it was easier to spot the Potters and the Weasleys. Lily spotted her father's messy black hair first. She let out an excited squeal and ran lightly down the steps and into his arms. Her father grinned and scooped her into a huge hug.

hugo and Sam caught up eventually, Sam carrying Mystery's bulky carry box.

"Hi, Uncle Harry," Hugo said with a grin, as he gave his aunt a hug. Then he turned to his own parents. "Mum, Dad," he greeted them warmly. Hugo's father, a tall man with the red hair that Sam had come to associate with the Weasley family, ruffled his son's hair.

"All right, son? Good to see you, and in those Gryffindor robes!" he said with a wink.

Hugo's mum rolled her eyes. "Ronald, I _told _you that it didn't matter what houses the children were in. They are at Hogwarts to _learn_!" She gave Hugo a hug and kissed the top of his head fondly. Hugo's father waited patiently for her to release their son before bending down and muttering in Hugo's ear.

"That's what she likes to think, but you know your house matters!" he said with a grin.

Sam stood slightly away from the families, watching the exchanges curiously. A voice behind her startled her out of her observations.

"You can go over and say hello, you know. Oh, and I got your trunk for you, by the way."

Sam spun round and found herself face to face with Albus Potter. He shot her a small, tentative grin. She raised an eyebrow at him, but felt obliged to say thanks.

Albus shrugged. "No problem," he said, before reaching out to turn Sam around and face his family. "C'mon," he said, "come and meet my parents."

Sam stepped back from his touch and frowned. Albus sighed. "Sam..." he said quietly, but she could hear the exasperation in his voice. "I'm sorry, okay? Listen, let's not make this Christmas awkward. I know I put my foot in it, but I wasn't thinking. You can be friends with Malfoy if you want. Just...I liked talking to you, Sam."

Sam looked into Albus' brilliant green eyes, which were watching her earnestly. She could see the honesty etched onto his face. She sighed. Maybe her grudge had gone on long enough.

"Fine," she said gruffly. "But only because I'm going to be living with you for Christmas."

Albus' lips quirked into a grin. "That's good enough for me," he said. "Now, are you going to meet my parents or are you gonna stand there like a lemon?"

Sam rolled her eyes and couldn't help the small grin which appeared on her face. She went to grab her trunk, but Albus beat her to it.

"I've got it," he assured her. "You hold on to Mystery."

Sam nodded her head in thanks and headed towards Lily, who glanced back at her and gasped apologetically. "Oh, Merlin, Sam, I'm so sorry, I abandoned you there!" she said. She turned to her parents. "Mum, Dad, you met Sam at the beginning of the year...she's my best friend."

Sam met the eyes of Lily's parents. "Hi, Mr and Mrs Potter," she said.

"Oh, you can call us Harry and Ginny, Sam," Mrs Potter was quick to inform her warmly. "It's good to meet you properly."

Harry nodded. "So, you met on the Hogwarts Express and became best friends, huh?" he said with a grin, and he turned to Ginny. "Like me and Ron."

Ginny smiled. "Yes, yes, all very similar, but that doesn't mean that Lily and Sam are going to get into as much trouble as you and Ron did!"

Sam watched the interaction feeling like that she was missing something. Suddenly she felt the breath of someone in her ear.

"Ron is Hugo's dad. Dad and Ron have been best mates since their first day at Hogwarts," Albus muttered from behind her. Sam turned her head to look at him.

"Will you stop doing that? It's creepy," she told him firmly. "Also, I haven't properly forgiven you yet."

Harry laughed. "Al, why are you hiding behind Sam anyway? I haven't seen you properly yet."

Albus stepped up and greeted his father with a mammoth hug. "Hi, Dad," he said fondly. Turning to his mother, he kissed her cheek. "Hiya, Mum."

Leaving Albus to greet his parents, Sam turned to Lily. "Where's your other brother?" she asked, not out of concern, but out of curiosity. She didn't care for James that much; she found his attitude too unpredictable.

Lily looked around the platform, which was rapidly emptying of people. "You know, I have no idea..." she said with a frown.

Not that far away, Hugo appeared to be having the same problem with a missing sibling. He made his way over to Lily and Sam. "Have you seen Rose?" he asked Lily. "We're thinking of heading off, and we don't even know if Rose got off the train..."

"Maybe she's with James?" Sam asked.

Hugo laughed humorlessly. "No, they can't stand each other. Unless they're duelling, they won't be together."

"Well, they're not duelling," Sam said, pointing to a corner of the platform. "There's James."

The other two turned to follow where Sam was pointing. Sure enough, tucked away in a corner, they could see the side of James' head, and he was speaking rapidly to another person. He appeared to be angry.

"Is that Daisy Finnigan?" Hugo asked with a frown.

Lily nodded. "What are they doing? He looks like he's shouting at her..."

"Well, Daisy is giving as good as she's getting, so..." Hugo commented. He wasn't lying; Daisy appeared to be retorting as heatedly as James.

"Wonder what that's about? They are always arguing," Sam said.

"Quidditch, probably..." Lily mused. "Even though James played really well in the match last week...maybe he's asking her about why she fainted...Daisy is sick and tired of people asking about that."

"Maybe," Hugo agreed. "Either way, he needs to get a move on, we'll all be leaving soon...well, when we find Rose."

After five minutes of walking up and down the platform, which had become progressively clearer, the trio had not yet glimpsed Rose. They were making their way back to where the Potters and Weasleys were congregated on the platform, when they spotted the strawberry blonde head of Rose Weasley stepping down from the Hogwarts Express.

"Rose!" Hugo called out, and Rose's head snapped round to look at him. She flushed slightly, then hurried over to them.

"Why are you only just getting off the train? We've been looking for you everywhere!" Hugo asked.

"I got off, then I realised I had left something on the train, that's all, Squirt," the older girl said breezily.

Hugo frowned. "But -"

"Look, it doesn't matter, Hugo. Drop it." Rose said firmly, before turning and walking over to her family.

The three eleven-year-olds looked at each other, their faces all mirroring confusion at Rose's outburst. Then they shrugged and returned to the gathered Weasleys and Potters, Lily calling for James as they went.

* * *

><p><em>AN: I decided to split the events of Platform 9 3/4 and the Christmas festivities into separate chapters, mostly because I have a feeling the next chapter will be a really long one, and I feel bad making you wait for an update for too long. So yes, this one is a short chapter, almost filler-length, but quite a lot of important things just happened, a lot of hints were dropped as to what other story lines might unfold later ;)_

_Anyway, I am really looking forward to the next chapter, myself, because it means I have a legitimate reason to get into the Christmas spirit early! :')_

_See you next update, PLEASE REVIEW THIS LITTLE 'UN! :D_


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:**I don't own Harry Potter or anything which is recognisable as part of the franchise.

Harry and Ginny Potter took the four children home by way of Side-Along Apparition; Lily and Sam with Ginny, and the boys with Harry. Their trunks had been sent ahead by Floo Powder. They re-materialised in an open, bright corridor, adorned with a number of magical portraits, much like those at Hogwarts.

Sam watched them in interest she was led down the corridor. There was a knight wrestling a creature that resembled a dragon, but had two heads. There was another of an old man with a shining white beard, and glinting half-moon glasses. He winked at Sam as she looked at him. Sam nudged Lily.

"Isn't that Albus Dumbledore?" she asked. "He looks like the guy from our History of Magic book..."

Lily nodded. "Yeah, that's him. He was really close to my dad," she explained. "So they gave him a portrait."

At the end of the corridor, right before they turned into a room, was a portrait which wasn't moving. A grumpy-looking woman with unruly black curls scowled at them.

"Who's that?" Sam had to ask. Instead of Lily, Harry was the one who replied.

"That's the mother of my godfather, Sirius Black. He used to own this house, you know."

"It's called Number Twelve Grimmauld Place." Albus chipped in helpfully.

"Yes, thank you, Albus," Harry said with a roll of his eyes. "Anyway, she used to scream all hell whenever anyone came in here. We couldn't take down the portrait, but then eventually we found a way to freeze her portrait. So she's silent now."

They passed the staircase and entered the huge living room. Off of it were a number of rooms, with pale brown doors separating the rooms. It was all very open and friendly, and Sam thought it suited the Potters down to the ground.

"Welcome to our home, Sam," Ginny said warmly.

"It's nice," Sam replied, and Ginny beamed.

"C'mon, Sam!" Lily said excitedly. "Come and see my room! We can share, or there's the room next door to mine..."

Both of Lily's parents chuckled in amusement at their daughter's enthusiasm. As Lily pulled Sam out of the room towards the staircase, Ginny called out, "Dinner will be at six, girls!"

They climbed up two floors, and Lily opened a door on the right hand side of the corridor. "This is my room," she announced, and gestured for Sam to go in.

The room was the largest bedroom Sam had ever seen; it was larger even than their joint dormitory at Hogwarts. It was bright and airy, with a large floor-length window all along the far wall. In one corner was an enormous bed, covered with cushions and pillows. The breezy, sweet personality of Lily simply filled the room, and Sam couldn't really imagine Lily living anywhere else, despite being completely overwhelmed by the sheer size of it. She stayed silent and just looked around the room, taking in the huge Holyhead Harpies poster, the makeshift dreamcatcher above the bed, and a glass case in which a shiny mahogany broomstick was propped. Lily ran over to the case with a squeal and took the broom from the cabinet. "Aw, I've missed you!" she said with an excited twirl. She held the broom out to Sam. "This is my Nimbus 3021, but I call it Nimbie," she explained fondly. Sam grinned at the sentimental smile on her friend's face. She didn't think she would ever understand the excitement people like Lily got from broomsticks and flying.

"Anyway," Lily said, laying her broom on to her bed. "Come next door, then you can decide where to sleep!" Grabbing Sam's hand, the red-head pulled her from the room.

Sam entered the room with a little bit of apprehension, but was pleasantly surprised. This room was slightly smaller than Lily's, and the colour scheme was a pleasant cream and chocolate. The room was circular, and the bed seemed to be the main feature, a circular piece of furniture made from a deep brown wood. The walls were not too fussily decorated, just a few simple ornaments.

"Sam?" Lily said behind her, sounding a little anxious.

Sam nodded once. "I like it," she said simply, and Lily beamed.

"Great!" she squealed, and grabbed her arm again. "Come on!"

Lily was like a whirlwind of energy, pulling Sam around to different parts of the house to show her around. While they were exploring the third floor, the girls bumped into Albus emerging from another room. He bit back a bemused grin as he realised what Lily was doing. "Lil," he said, and the girls stopped. "Sam's here for two weeks. You don't have to show her the whole house now. Let her settle in."

Lily pulled Sam away again. "Yeah, whatever Al!"

Albus shook his head in amusement as he watched them disappear down the corridor.

.oOo. .oOo. .oOo. .oOo. .oOo. .oOo. .oOo. .oOo. .oOo. .oOo. .oOo. .oOo. .oOo. .oOo.

The rest of the evening passed smoothly. Sam joined the Potters for dinner, and there was a comfortable, warm, atmosphere, not dissimilar to that at Hogwarts. The family chatted and laughed, but there were also moments of easy silence, broken only by the occasional chink of glass, or scrape of cutlery on china.

"So, we're going to the Burrow on Christmas Day," Ginny said as she began clearing the table, and Lily jumped up to help her.

"The Burrow?" Sam asked.

"Our grandparents' house. Where Mum grew up, and where Dad practically lived," James replied, surprising Sam; James wasn't one to volunteer information, normally. She looked over at him, and he had already gone back to reading his Quidditch magazine as he had all throughout the meal.

"We always go to the Burrow for Christmas," Ginny explained. "All of the family meet up and spend the day there."

" 'Cause Grandma Molly does the best Christmas dinner," Albus grinned. "Bit of a slave driver though - _ow_!" he flinched as Ginny smacked him over the head with a teacloth.

"You know it's hard work to do a Christmas dinner for over thirty people," Ginny said sternly. "So you _will_peel the potatoes if Grandma Molly asks you to!"

"Even though it takes _hours..._" Albus muttered under his breath.

.oOo. .oOo. .oOo. .oOo. .oOo. .oOo. .oOo. .oOo. .oOo. .oOo. .oOo. .oOo. .oOo. .oOo.

Christmas Day descended upon the Potter household amidst a flurry of decorations, food and festivities. Sam had been integrated into the Potter family with little ceremony, and at times it was as if she'd always been there. Mystery too had become a regular part of Potter everyday life, often gamboling around and occasionally causing the many owls to hoot nervously.

It was Christmas Eve and the family had sat down for their dinner. Albus was heaping mashed potato onto his plate, and Lily and James were squabbling over who had the peas first. As Harry came in and took his place at the table he looked around, before asking his wife, "Where's Sam?"

Lily, hearing her father's question, surrendered the peas to her brother and she too looked around. "Shall I go and see?" she asked.

Ginny rose. "No, love, stay there and eat your food while it's still hot. I'll go and find her. Maybe she just lost track of time."

Ginny knocked softly at the girl's bedroom door before entering slowly. "Sam?" she said softly, poking her head round. She spotted Sam at her desk, her back to the door, huncehd over something. The occasional scratching noise made it clear that she was writing.

"Sam?" Ginny said again, and Sam jolted out of her apparetn reverie and turned round. "Are you coming to dinner?"

Sam's violet eyes widened slightly, and then she frowned. "It's dinner time?" she said, and began to get up. "Sorry," she said. Ginny smiled fondly.

"It's all right, we just started," she said. "I thought you had lost track of time."

Sam nodded. "Yeah, sorry. I was writing a letter," she said indifferently, folding the letter away.

"Oh? Who were you writing to?"

"Someone from the children's home I was in. Annabel."

Ginny smiled, then frowned a little. " Wasn't taht a Muggle home?" At Sam's nod, she continiued, "Were you planning on owling it?"

Sam shrugged. "I dunno. I hadn't even decided if I was gonna send it."

Ginny looked thoughtful. "Well...if you decide you want to send it, I could ask Harry to take it to work with him, there's a department there which deals with Muggle-Wizard Communications...I'm sure they wouldn't mind sending it for you. It's more secure than Muggle post."

Sam looked up at Mrs Potter, and gave a faint grin. "Thanks," she said simply.

.oOo. .oOo. .oOo. .oOo. .oOo. .oOo. .oOo. .oOo. .oOo. .oOo. .oOo. .oOo. .oOo. .oOo.

Christmas Day dawned bright and early, with the cool winter sun streaming through Sam's window. She was woken from her sleep by excited tapping on the door.

"Sam! Sam!"

Rubbing her eyes, Sam sat up to find a bouncing Lily on her bed. She couldn't help but smile. She'd never seen anything to be excited about at Christmas herself; it had never been much of an event at the children's home, but Lily's enthusiasm was infectious. Wriggling out from under the covers, she put on her slippers.

"What is it?" she asked.

Lily rolled her eyes. "It's Christmas!" she said, as if she was stating the obvious.

Sam grinned. "You don't say."

The two of them went downstairs to the dining room, where Albus was already sat, eating a bowl of cereal.

"Merry Christmas," he greeted the girls. Sam smiled back in response, and Lily squealed and ruffled her brother's hair.

"Mum and Dad not up yet?" she asked, and Albus shrugged.

"It _is_only seven o' clock though, Lils, so..." he said with a grin.

"So? It's _Christmas!_" Lily's excitement appeared to be unquenchable. Sam sat down at the table and helped herself to the cereal which Albus had left out. After a final twirl, Lily followed suit.

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Then they heard the familiar tapping of an owl at the window, and Albus got up to let it in. The bird hopped in through the window, and flew across the table to land in front of Sam. It stuck out a leg, and Sam disengaged the envelope. She offered it a bit of dried cereal as a treat, but the owl gave her a disdainful glare before turning and leaving.

"What is it with owls and attitude...?" Sam muttered as she opened the envelope and tugged out the parchment inside.

_Dear Sam,_

_Merry Christmas! I hope the owl finds you okay; I guess you're staying with Lily Potter but I didn't know for sure. Anyway, hope your Christmas is good. _

_Also, I was just wondering what you're up to on New Year's Eve? My parents are hosting a ball thing, but I am allowed to invite a few guests to a smaller sleepover sort of thing...to make up for not going to the ball, I suppose. Anyway, if you want, you can totally come. It's not a formal thing or anything, just a few of us from school hanging out._

_Well, anyway, I'd love to hear from you, soon._

_Merry Christmas!_

_Carina xx_

Sam read the note with a raised eyebrow. Albus, who had been reading the note in his peripheral vision, let out a low whistle.

"Sleepover at the Malfoys, eh?" he said. "Look who's all lah-di-dah!"

Sam rolled up the parchment and hit him on the head with it. "Did no-one ever tell you that's rude?"

Albus merely laughed.

"Wait, _what?__" _Lily exclaimed, Albus' words just beginning to sink in. "A _sleepover_ at the _Malfoys_? No. No, no, no, you _can__'__t_go!"

Sam frowned. "I haven't even said I'm going yet, Lily," she pointed out. "Still, it's nice of her."

Albus choked on his cereal, but wisely didn't make any further comment, remembering that he was still on probation for his previous jibe at Carina Malfoy. Lily, on the other hand, had no such qualms.

"_Nice?__" _she said. "She's not nice to _me.__"_

Sam simply shrugged. She would think about the invitation later.

.oOo. .oOo. .oOo. .oOo. .oOo. .oOo. .oOo. .oOo. .oOo. .oOo. .oOo. .oOo. .oOo. .oOo.

A/N: Okay, sorry for the lateness of an update; real life hasn't been that kind to me lately, and I'm afraid to say that updates might be slow-going.

The Burrow will be in the next chapter; I promise that will be a long one, lots of people to see and talk to...

And finally, what do you think Sam will do with Carina's invitation? Will she go, or decline? Leave your views in a review! xx


	9. Chapter 9

_A/N: Merry Christmas! This chapter conveniently covers Christmas Day at the Burrow (would love to say I planned that, but that's not true, lol), and is basically a series of snapshots of the day, rather than give you a boring blow-by-blow account of the day._

_This chapter is dedicated to MayFairy, who is the original creator of the ideas behind this story (although every chapter is a surprise for her these days too). Basically, I was supposed to write her a gift-fic for a Christmas present, and I simply haven't had the time or inspiration for a new story. However, I already had part of this written, and Sam's world is always so easy to jump back into once I start writing. So...after about 3 nights of work - with only one functioning hand, I might add - here is the next chapter!_

_I hope you all enjoy it, and it's all thanks to MayFairy that this chapter is posted today, otherwise you might have had to wait until next Christmas for it!_

_xxx_

**Chapter 9**

Lily's Christmas fever was still raging strong after Harry and Ginny woke, and all through getting ready for going to the Burrow. She chatted ten to the dozen, rarely caring whether she got a response out of anyone. She was quiet only once she stood in the Floo and Ginny gave the command to travel to the Burrow.

They stepped out of the Floo into a large living space, and it couldn't have been further from the subtle sophistication of Grimmauld Place. This place was homely and had an almost cottage-like feel to it; mismatched furniture, handmade cushions and odd ornaments decorated the space. And unlike Grimmauld Place, this place simply oozed magic.

In one corner, a broom swept a small cloud of dust into a waiting dustpan, and just above it a damp cloth scrubbed at an already clean window, occasionally wringing itself out. The cutlery was laying itself out on the large dining table and the flowers in a vase over the fireplace were arranging themselves.

Sam had arrived at the Burrow with Ginny and Lily, and she couldn't help but be reminded of the first time she had stepped into Hogwarts. Once again, she couldn't quite believe that a world like this one existed, and found it even harder to comprehend that she was a part of it somehow.

Ginny stepped forwards, away from the fireplace, and ushered the girls out of the way so Harry and the boys could Floo in easily. "Mum?" she called, but there was no response. Ginny frowned then began walking towards a door in the far corner of the room. "She must be in the kitchen," she murmured before leaving the room.

Lily turned to Sam. "We must be the first ones here, normally this room is packed," she said with a shrug. Behind them, the Floo roared green, and Harry appeared with Albus and James, carrying a few small bags.

Albus gazed around and then grinned. "We're the first ones here," he said matter-of-factly.

Lily huffed. "I already said that."

"Yeah, but no one listens to you, especially on Christmas, when you never shut up," Albus replied with a shrug. Sam covered up a grin at the offended look on Lily's face.

Ginny returned then, following a short, cheerfully plump woman, with similar red hair to Ginny's, although lined with strands of grey. She stepped towards the group by the fireplace and beamed.

"Oh, look at you all!" she said fondly. "I haven't seen you children in so long! And Harry, dear...you always look so thin...and who's this?" She asked, looking curiously at Sam.

"This is Sam, Grandma" Lily supplied. "She's my friend from school."

The woman beamed again and stepped forwards, enveloping all four children in a hug. She smelled like cinnamon cakes, and Sam thought it was very motherly, even if it was a bit weird to be hugged by a total stranger. When they all broke from the hug, Lily's grandmother smiled at Sam. "Call me Molly, dear. I hope you enjoy being here for Christmas."

Sam grinned slightly and nodded her head in thanks.

"Where's everyone else, Gran?" Albus asked.

Molly frowned in concentration. "Well, let's see...George and Angelina are bringing the twins over in a little while, Bill, Fleur and the children should already be here, Percy and the girls aren't coming till tea time, Charlie said he would be here in time for dinner...who have I forgotten? Bill, Charlie, George...oh yes, Ron and Hermione will be here in an hour or so with Rosie and Hugo. Is that everyone?"

Sam raised an eyebrow in disbelief. That sounded like an awful lot of people. She knew Lily had a big family but she hadn't realised just how big. And they were all supposed to fit in the Burrow? She couldn't imagine it.

"What about Teddy?" Harry was asking.

"What about him?" A tall, handsome boy with jet black curls and a huge grin entered the living room. He crossed the room to Harry and gave him a fierce hug. "Hey, Uncle Harry," he said warmly.

"How's it going, Ted?" Harry asked with a smile.

"Yeah, not too bad, I'm working on this project at the moment..." the two men left the room, deep in conversation.

Watching the two go, Molly then turned to the remaining guests. "Why don't you find your rooms, get settled in and I'll see you in a little while?" she suggested. "I'll call you if I need anything."

Lily grabbed Sam's arm, as had become the norm, and began to lead her from the room. They climbed a few stairs and reached a small landing. "I normally share this room with Molly and Lucy, so they'll be in here too when they arrive," Lily explained, pushing open the door.

"Molly and Lucy?" Sam asked, stepping into the room. Two bunk beds occupied the small space, reminding Sam a little of her old home; although the Burrow had a warm feel that the home in Camden never had. Lily dropped her bag on the bed on the right hand side of the room, and Sam mirrored her.

"My cousins, Uncle Percy's girls. They're both at Hogwarts actually; Molly is a fourth year and Lucy is in second," she said.

Sam frowned. "I've never seen them."

"You probably have but they don't look like typical Weasleys so they don't really stick out!" Lily said, gesturing vaguely at her hair. "Plus, they're both in Hufflepuff."

"That's not a bad thing, is it?"

"No...I guess not...it just means we don't see them as much. Most of my cousins are in Gryffindor so we see them all the time in the Tower."

Something about the way Lily was behaving suggested to Sam that she didn't get on with Molly and Lucy that well. She would have to wait and see to find out why.

* * *

><p>About an hour later, Lily and Sam were in the kitchen, chopping carrots. Albus was at the other end of the worktop, working his way through an almighty pile of potatoes, which needed washing, peeling and chopping.<p>

"Where's James anyway?" he was grumbling. "He is supposed to be helping, the jerk."

Lily smirked. "He knows how much you like doing the potatoes and thought he would leave you to it!"

She earned herself a glare from her brother.

The door to the kitchen opened and in came three familiar faces.

"Hiya, gang!" Fred Weasley grinned. "Long time, no see!"

Behind him were his twin and Hugo, who were both smiling. Lily, briefly abandoning her carrot duty, gave all three boys a quick hug.

"Help me with these potatoes, guys?" Albus asked with a pleading gaze. The boys looked at each other.

"Are we gonna help him, lads?" George asked.

"Hmm, how can we deny him when he fixes us with those emerald eyes..." Fred declared, striking a dramatic pose. "T'would be a sin, dear brother!"

"Indeed, that is so, dearest twin, and yet, alas...ouch!" George gripped his arm where Albus had thrown one of the potatoes at him.

"Now will you help?" Al asked, a playful glint in his eyes.

The twins huffed and picked up knives to help with the potatoes. Sniggering, Hugo joined Sam and Lily to help with the carrots.

* * *

><p>Sam returned to the bedroom a little later to find two girls on the bunk bed that she and Lily were not using. One was blonde, with large, ice-blue eyes, which watched Sam curiously. The other, who was obviously younger, had hair the same colour as a Chocolate Frog, with a hint of auburn, yet her eyes were the same pale blue as the other girl's. Sam reckoned she could safely assume they were Molly and Lucy, Lily's cousins, although for sisters they could not have looked more different.<p>

"Hey," she said shortly, nodding at the girls before going over to her bed.

"Who are you?" The older girl asked, an almost haughty undertone colouring her voice.

"Sam." She didn't see the point in being polite if the girl was going to act this coldly.

"Sam who?"

"Just Sam."

"Why are you here?"

"I'm staying with the Potters."

"Are you from Hogwarts?"

"No, I'm from London. But I do go to Hogwarts."

The blonde girl flipped her hair over her shoulder and tossed her head. "I'm Molly Jane Weasley. I'm Lily's cousin. This is my sister Lucy."

Sam shrugged. "I know."

Molly looked a little wounded. Lucy smiled a little. "MJ, Sam was here before us. Lily has probably already mentioned us. Don't get so upset." Lucy glanced over at Sam. "She likes telling people things they don't know. You get used to it quite quickly."

Sam raised an eyebrow and turned back to her bunk. She almost wanted to shake her head in disbelief at Molly's attitude. The girl was in her fourth year, for Merlin's sake; surely she should be a little more mature.

The sisters talked among themselves for a little while as they unpacked. From her bag Sam retrieved the quill and parchment she had been looking for, and left them to it. She wasn't sure she liked those particular Weasleys.

* * *

><p>"<em>If I wave my wand over here,<em>

_Will my wizard be home for Christmas cheer?_

_Or will he still be away from me,_

_At the most wonderful time of the year? ..."_

The warbling voice rang out over the radio in the living room at the Burrow. Sam, Albus, Lily and Fred were playing Exploding Snap on the rug by the fireplace. As the pack exploded yet again, knocking over the chess pieces on the chessboard next to them where George and Hugo were playing, the six kids decided to go out into the back garden for a little while.

Only a light dusting of snow covered the garden and the vegetable patches. They could still hear the song playing inside.

"_When friends come to call,_

_During the happiest season of all,_

_Will he be here for me to show,_

_Or will my lonely heart fall?..."_

"Who is that singing anyway?" Lily asked, scrunching up her nose.

"Philomena Beckwhistle," Albus replied. "She's meant to be the voice of next year." His tone suggested that he didn't think much of Philomena's voice.

"_The turtle doves will keep on singing,_

_The partridge will keep on winging, _

_But my true love is not by my side,_

_Even with the Christmas bells ringing..."_

"It's a terrible song!" Fred exclaimed, and everyone else nodded in agreement.

"What's that?" Sam asked abruptly, pointing over by the fence. There stood a short, stout creature, with a bald head like a potato, and a flat face like it had run into a brick wall and squashed all its features.

"A gnome," the other five children replied in unison. Sam nodded slowly.

"Right..." she said. "That is not what gnomes look like in stories."

"Sure they are!" Hugo said. "Haven't you read 'Marjorie Mandrake and the Naughty Gnome'?"

Sam snorted. "What is that? Marjorie Mandrake? Naughty Gnome?"

Hugo frowned. "It's a story my dad read to me when I was little..."

"Raised by Muggles, remember, Hu?" Sam said with a raised eyebrow, though she was still grinning at the ridiculous-sounding story.

Hugo blushed. "Oh yeah."

Sam smirked and then continued to watch the gnome as it pottered around near the fence, scuffing its feet in the dry dirt by the vegetable patch. It was a curious little creature, quite ugly and angry-looking, and yet it wandered around with a sort of innocence.

Suddenly Albus strode forwards. "Guess we ought to get rid of the lousy thing," he declared, and before Sam even registered what he was doing, he had grabbed the gnome by the ankles, swept it up into the air, spun it around a few times, and thrown it over the fence and into the fields beyond. Dusting off his palms, he said, "Should take that one a while to make it back."

"What did you do that for?" Sam asked with a scowl. "Fun, was it?"

Albus chuckled. "Gnomes are pests, Sam. They dig stuff up, and they get in the way, not to mention they bite. We de-gnome this place on a regular basis."

Sam frowned. The gnomes didn't look like pests, but then she didn't know as much about the wizarding world as Albus did. She saw another gnome poking through the hedge. She poked Albus and pointed to it. Albus grinned. "Do you want a go?"

Sam thought it over for a second. On one hand, she thought Albus had been very rough with the small creature, but on the other hand it seemed pretty fun.

"Tell me what to do," she said.

"Right, the key with gnomes is you have to be firm. Walk up with purpose, and then grab it tightly by the ankles. The little bugger will struggle like crazy; they're strong, be careful. Lift it up and give it a few spins, that makes them dizzy and they take longer to come back. Then let go and lob it over the fence. Simple as," Albus said.

Sam took a deep breath then walked over to the gnome as if she was a pro at de-gnoming. Close up, the creature looked remarkably like Stubbs from the children's home, she mused. Bending down, she lunged for the ankles. It was very strong indeed; Sam nearly dropped it as it struggled brutally in her grip. However, she lifted it quickly above her head and spun it like a lasso. After three swings her arms started to hurt so she quickly let go and watched the gnome go flying over the hedge and into the field, limbs flailing. Albus whistled appreciatively.

"Didn't know they could fly that far," he said, and Sam couldn't help but feel a little bit pleased with herself, although all she did was shrug nonchalantly. Albus winked. "You're secretly a very proud of that," he said quietly in her ear.

Sam scowled and Albus and he chuckled as he walked back to where the rest of the group were sitting on the round bench by the door.

* * *

><p>Sam didn't think the dining table could fit any more people, or any more food. She had given up trying to count all the people sitting around her, nor could she remember all of their names yet; some of them she had not even spoken to. She sat next to Lily and Hugo of course, with Albus and the twins opposite; the six of them had spent a lot of time in each other's company throughout the day. Next to Albus sat Teddy, Harry's godson, and Sam found him naturally likeable. He had a jovial personality, and he was a Metamorphmagus, with the ability to change his features at will, so provided some great entertainment for the children, while his girlfriend Victoire rolled her eyes affectionately.<p>

Teddy was currently sporting a large pair of ears and bright blue hair, and was acting as if it was completely normal and that he didn't understand why everyone was sniggering. He was a great actor, and Sam found his good nature very appealing. He was almost big brother material, she mused. He would be a better big brother than James, for example.

Further down the table, the girls, Molly and Lucy were sitting, having a rather heated debate about hairstyling charms, strengthening Sam's opinions of them being quite shallow and boring. Saying that, however, after meeting Percy, their father, she could almost see why; he was a little bit pompous and dry, and Sam didn't really take to him.

Suddenly laughter erupted from the far end of the table, where Bill, George Senior and Harry sat.

"Hey Dad," Bill called down the table to Arthur Weasley, with whom Sam had not really spoken at all, "Harry may just have found the solution to your Muggle Artifacts problem!"

Harry grinned. "I'll tell you later, Arthur, maybe it's not best for the young ears to hear."

Sam and her friends exchanged curious looks at that, but then dessert arrived on the table and the exchange was forgotten.

After a huge dinner, when Sam thought she may never need to eat ever again for the rest of her life, they we excused to open their gifts wherever they wished. Sam followed Lily, Hugo and Albus to the summer house in the garden where the twins shortly joined them.

"So how are we gonna do this?" Albus asked, looking around. "Everyone opens one at a time, or...?"

Sam looked down at her bag of presents. It was a considerably smaller bunch of gifts than the others, but more than she had ever had in her life, so it didn't bother her. She knew, however, that Lily especially would end up feeling bad about it, and she didn't want that. She was quick to nod in agreement when Lily piped up, "can't we all just _open_ them? I don't know if I can wait any longer!"

Chuckling at Lily's impatience, Albus chose a large tartan cushion on the floor and sat on it, pulling his bag of presents towards him. He looked up at Sam and patted the purple cushion next to him. Sam shrugged and sat down, and Lily was quick to follow.

The children made quick work of their presents, not really saying much as they tore off wrapping paper. Occasionally there would be an exclamation of excitement from one of them, and everyone would stop to see what they had received.

Part way through, they were joined by Rose; she had awkwardly opened the door and asked if they minded if there was space.

"MJ is doing my head in," she explained, and she was immediately accepted into the group. No one envied her for being stuck with Molly-Jane Weasley.

Sam was slightly overwhelmed, but by no means in a bad way. Christmas had never really been a big thing to her, but she was enjoying herself. She was surprised at how many people had made the effort to send her gifts; she had received small bags of candy from the girls in her dorm at school, and Morgan had even sent a small treat for Mystery, which Sam thought was thoughtful.

Carina had sent a new set of quills, and instructions on how to get to Malloy Manor. Lily leaned over and huffed. "She doesn't even know if you're going; she only invited you this morning."

Sam shrugged. "I replied this morning saying I would go."

"Go where?" Fred asked.

Lily frowned. "But...but...you didn't even think about it before you agreed to go?"

"Course I did," Sam said.

"Go _where_?" Fred asked again, looking back and forth between the two girls. Albus laughed at his expression.

"Sam was invited to the Malfoys for New Year," je explained. The twins looked scandalised.

"What?" George exclaimed. "Why?"

"Sleepover," Sam said offhandedly. "Carina invited me, 'coos there's some ball thing..."

"You're going to the Ball?" Rose cut in. Sam was surprised by her interjection; she had never spoken to Rose before. She shook her head.

"No, we're just hanging out while the Ball's going on, or something..." she explained. Rose nodded once and fell quiet again.

The Potters had been really generous, and given Sam a variety of presents. Her favourite one was something which she would not normally choose for herself, but she liked it because the Potters had clearly spent some time and effort in choosing it for her, not to mention probably a fair bit of money. It was a silver chain, very simply crafted, but with an elegance that Sam could detect. On the pendant was a tiny amethyst, about the size of her smallest fingernail. On the back of the pendant was a miniscule symbol, a tiny circle with a diamond in the centre and four lines coming out of the edge. She wondered briefly what it meant, when she was distracted by Lily's squeal.

"We match!"

Lily too, had been given a chain, identical to Sam's but with a deep ruby as a jewel instead. She held it out to Sam. "Help me put it on?"

Sam clasped the chain in place around Lily's neck, and the red-head beamed. "I may never take this off," she declared.

Sam felt movement by her ear. "Do you want help with yours?"

It was Albus of course; as usual doing his annoying thing of talking softly in Sam's ear from behind her. She huffed.

"Do you know how annoying that is?" she snapped. She turned away from him and passed her necklace to Lily, who clipped it into place.

* * *

><p>It was much later when Lily and Sam went up to bed. The evening had been filled with the Weasley clan sitting in the cosy living room, having their own conversations or occasionally having group sing-alongs or joke-telling. The twins' dad, George, had had a little too much to drink and had entertained everyone by transfiguring the chair which Harry was sitting on into a giant canary. Bill Weasley and his wife Fleur performed a slightly tipsy waltz, with Bill nearly dropping Fleur when he attempted to lift her.<p>

In all, it was a warm, comfortable atmosphere, and Sam had been surprised at how easily she had been accepted into the family occasion. Whether it was Molly Weasley being determined to fatten her up, or Arthur Weasley quizzing her on the newest Muggle technology, or Fred and George's constant attempts to pull a prank on her, it all made Sam feel at home.

Almost like she was a part of a family. She couldn't believe that in such a short space of time, she had felt almost as if she had a family; first at Hogwarts, and now at the Burrow.

For the first time in her life, Sam fell asleep at the end of Christmas Day with a full stomach and a sense of belonging.

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN: please don't leave without reviewing! Happy Christmas! xx**_


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

_A/N Well, aren't you being spoiled, dear readers? Two updates in one week! All I can say is, don't get used to it; when I get back to university, chances are it will be 'Hello, Law degree, goodbye spare time,' again_

Disclaimer: All canon characters and situations belong to JK Rowling and I don't make any money from the writing or publishing of this story.

Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

><p>"Sam!" Lily tore through the Burrow, searching for her friend. "Sam! Where are you?"<p>

On entering the kitchen, she found her cousin Louis eating a bowl of cereal. He looked up in surprise, then frowned. "Lily, do you want to wake the whole house up? It's only eight in the morning, and it's the day after Christmas."

Lily flung herself onto a spare dining chair. "Have you seen Sam?"

Louis shook his head. "Nope. Why? Are you playing hide-and-seek?"

Lily huffed in exasperation. "Don't be stupid. At eight in the morning? No, I just woke up and she's not in bed."

"And…she's not allowed to get out of bed without you to accompany her?" Louis said with a frown, struggling to understand why Lily was so stressed out.

"Well, no, but…"

"But what, Lils? I'm so confused. Maybe she got up for a walk, maybe she wants some fresh air, maybe she wants you to stop smothering her for a little while…maybe lots of things, maybe all of the above?" Louis reeled off quickly.

"Smothering her?" Lily's delicate features twisted into a frown.

"Yeah…y'know, you've been permanently stuck to her pretty much since September," Louis tried to explain. "I've seen you around school, and maybe she just needs some alone time?"

"But…Sam's my best friend," Lily said quietly, and Louis reached over to pat his youngest cousin on the arm.

"I know, and that's great, but even best friends like to spend a bit of time on their own. Look, I'm not even saying that's why she's not in bed, maybe she's with someone else, but still, it's something to think about." He ruffled her hair. "Just 'cos you're best friends doesn't mean you have to be stuck together all the time, yeah?"

Lily looked thoughtful. "Yeah," she said finally with a small smile. She got up and kissed Louis on the cheek. "Thanks, Lou," she said and left the kitchen.

Less than a minute later, Louis Weasley heard his cousin shouting again.

"Sam! Where are you?"

He chuckled gently and returned to his newspaper. Sometimes, kids just didn't listen.

* * *

><p>Sam sat in the chilly summerhouse, wrapped in her thick Hogwarts robe and her striped Gryffindor scarf. With Mystery in her lap, she unfolded the piece of paper she had found on her pillow when she woke up. Not parchment; this was normal, <em>Muggle <em>lined paper.

Sam read the wobbly handwriting, with the letters sometimes facing the wrong way, and the spelling sometimes a bit iffy.

_Sam_

_Mummy is helping me wryte this. Thank yoo for your letter. Happy Chistmas! I hope you like shcool. I go to shcool now! We play lots of gamse. My new mummy and dady are really nice. They love me lots. I love you Sam lots and lots when will I see you? My hand is hurting now. _

_Annie x x x x x_

Underneath, Annie had drawn a small picture of a Christmas tree and two people. One had long brown hair and the other had spiky yellow hair and bright purple eyes. Sam smiled, and was surprised to feel her lips wobble slightly.

Annie's new mother had also written a short note:

_Dear Sam,_

_We have never met, but it was my husband and I who agreed to take Annie and adopt her. She is a lovely little girl, and misses you terribly. I wanted to let you know (because I have a feeling you were not told) that I am aware of your magical abilities; I myself come from a magical family, but have no magic myself. That's why Professor Rondinio approached me to adopt Annie; he knew it would be easier for you to visit her if I understood your circumstances. You are welcome to write to and visit us at any time; I'm sure Annie would love it. Please do not hesitate to use owl post to correspond; my husband and I have become accustomed to it, and Annie never tires of seeing the birds arrive. _

_I do hope you will visit one day._

_Regards,_

_Verity Boon_

Sam read the note with an eyebrow raised in surprise. She hadn't known that Professor Rondinio had arranged for Annie to be looked after by someone who knew about magic. She also hadn't known that it was possible for someone to be of magical descent and yet not have any magic of their own. Still, Verity Boon and her husband seemed like a friendly enough pair, and Annie seemed happy with them.

Thinking of Annie reminded Sam how much she had been through with that little girl. They had grown so close in their few years in the children's home, and Annie had looked up to Sam in so many ways. The little girl had kept Sam grounded too; she was the main reason Sam had never truly lost her temper, for fear of scaring Annie, or putting her in danger. She was also the reason Sam hadn't lasted long in any of her foster homes; Sam didn't believe Annie would be safe in the home without Sam, and so the blonde had done her best to be kicked out of foster care as quickly as possible to get back to Annie.

And now they were separated again; yet it did not feel as bad as before. Annie was in a safe place, away from the bullies – she had even started school – and she was with a family who seemed to dote on her. Sam, too was in a good place, so maybe their being separated would not lead to either of them getting hurt this time. Sam would definitely have to find some time to visit Annie soon. Maybe she would talk to the Headmaster in the New Year.

There was a knock on the summerhouse door, and MJ Weasley pushed it open quietly. Sam frowned. What was she doing here?

Coming all the way in, and closing the door softly, she said, "I thought you should know, Lily is tearing the place apart looking for you. She thinks you may have been kidnapped."

Sam raised an eyebrow. "Why would she think that?"

"Well, when she woke up this morning, she saw you were gone, and went a bit crazy…" Molly shook her head. "I guess you don't make a habit of getting up before her, or she would be used to it."

Sam shook her head. "Not really, she normally wakes me up."

"That would explain it," Molly said, taking a seat on a cushion by the door.

"How did you know where I was, then?" Sam asked.

Molly shrugged. "I heard you get up, saw you put your winter gear on, and figured you were going outside. It didn't bother me until Lily got up and started stomping round the house looking for you, then I thought I'd better let you know."

"Why would I want to know?"

The older girl rubbed her hands together. "I dunno, in case you didn't want her to find you yet, or in case you decided to cure all of our headaches and come inside so Lily stops shouting…"

Sam smirked. "That sounds like Lily. She goes over the top about things."

Molly gasped. "That is the understatement of the year! She gets obsessive! She reminds me a little of a Labrador, you know those really excitable dogs?" She grinned. "But, she's family, so we have to put up with her."

Sam chuckled. "Well, you don't see her often."

"Often enough," Molly smiled. She looked Sam in the eye. "Listen, we didn't get off to a great start, but you're all right, you know, Sam. I feared you would be another Labrador, but somehow, you and my cousin get on really well. And I respect you for taking Lily out of our hair." She laughed, and Sam grinned. "I don't get on with a lot of people, but you seem decent enough…for a Gryffindor." The older girl winked.

"Most of your family is in Gryffindor," Sam pointed out. Molly rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, and I'm not. I'm special enough to break the mould." She said with a grin. "I was the second Weasley _not_ to be in Gryffindor. Dominique was first, she was a Hufflepuff too. Rose was the next and Lucy was last. And somehow we end up cast out of the family, 'cos we don't get the Gryffindor in-jokes." She sighed. "It's hard sometimes." She looked up suddenly. "Merlin, I'm sorry, landing this all on your shoulders! I only came in here to give you a heads-up…" she got to her feet, embarrassed suddenly. "Anyway, if you decide to come inside so we can have breakfast in peace…that would be appreciated." She winked.

"Cheers, Molly," Sam said, getting to her feet as well and picking up her cat.

"MJ. Everyone calls me MJ," she said. "Toodles!"

She let the door close behind her, and Sam was left in the empty summerhouse. She would have to come back later to get some peace.

* * *

><p>"There you are!"<p>

The minute Sam walked through the door, she was ambushed by Lily. She barely had enough time to put Mystery down before Lily was hugging her fiercely.

"Where did you go?" she asked.

Sam shrugged. "Outside," she said shortly.

"I thought you were kidnapped!" Lily exclaimed, and Sam chuckled, catching MJ's eye over Lily's shoulder. MJ rolled her eyes and pulled a dramatic pose.

"Nope, not kidnapped, just outside. Have you had breakfast?"

"No, I haven't had time to eat!" Lily gasped.

"Well, that was silly. Eat some food, Lils." Sam said firmly, guiding her to the table.

As soon as Lily sat down, the kitchen door opened and James, Albus and Lucy came in. Albus saw Sam and grinned. "Ah, the banshee has ceased her screeching, this can only mean the fair maiden Sam has been rescued!"

Lily scowled. "Shut up. I wasn't screeching."

James snorted. "Was too."

"Was not!"

"Was too!"

"Was _not_!"

"Was –"

"James, stop it. The girl might explode!" MJ said with a giggle. James rolled his eyes, but he did as MJ said.

Lily huffed into her cereal bowl. "Why is everyone picking on me?" she whined.

Albus smirked. "I don't think you really want that question answered, sis…"

Lily flicked a piece of cereal at him, but she stayed quiet for the rest of her breakfast.

A large tawny owl flew in through the window and landed on the back of James' chair. It carried a small parcel and a rolled-up piece of parchment. Untying the package, James handed the owl a piece of bread and it flew off.

"Who could be writing to my dearest brother?" Albus asked teasingly. James picked up the parchment and glanced over it. He made an almost feral growl, and Sam looked up in surprise to see James almost shaking with anger. All round the table, the kids watched in alarm and the eldest Potter child stood up, swiped the package off the table and left the room, slamming the door behind him.

Everyone sat in stunned silence, looking at each other. None of them could fathom why a letter could have caused that sort of reaction.

Albus broke the tension. "If I didn't know better, I'd say he was a werewolf."

There were some nervous titters and smiles, and everyone returned to their breakfast.

Everyone except MJ, who had noticed the parchment that had started it all fall to the floor. Surreptitiously she pulled it towards her with her toe, and then picked it up. Reading it under the table, she frowned. Then she finished her glass of juice and left the table. She had to find James.

* * *

><p>"Sam, will you play?"<p>

Sam looked up at Albus from where she was brushing Mystery. "Play what?"

Albus sighed. "Weren't you listening? We're gonna play a game of Quidditch outside."

She shook her head. "I don't play Quidditch, Albus."

He sat down on the floor beside her. "Sure you do! You can fly a broom, can't you?"

Sam shrugged. She could fly, thanks to her Flying lessons at Hogwarts, but that didn't mean she could play Quidditch. She didn't even fully understand the rules, and she told Albus so. He grinned.

"Come on, you've watched enough Quidditch matches to get the gist of it! I don't play for the team but I've watched enough to understand it…" He gave her a little shove. "Come on, Sam…" he whined. "I'm not going away until you say yes!"

Sam rolled her eyes. "Well, fine, yeah, I'll play, as long as you leave me alone."

Albus laughed. "I can't guarantee that, but you've said you would play now, so come on!" He got to his feet and pulled her up with him. Sighing, Sam followed him outside, wondering what she had got herself into.

* * *

><p>MJ tapped softly on the door which led to the room James was currently sharing with Albus, Louis and Hugo. When she didn't hear an answer she creaked the door open softly. James was lying on his bunk in the dimly lit room, not moving, just staring at Albus' bunk above.<p>

"James?" MJ said hesitantly. Out of all her cousins, James was the one she got on the best with; they weren't exactly tell-each-other-everything close, but they had a quiet understanding of each other.

"Jamie?" she tried again.

"Go away, MJ," he said dully, without even turning to look at her. MJ sat down on the bunk opposite, and stayed there, not saying anything for a few minutes. Then she unfolded the piece of parchment she'd brought with her. It didn't have many words on it, but it was enough to send James into this foul mood. She was determined to get to the bottom of it all.

"'_James. This doesn't change anything. Sorry. Daisy,_'" she read from the parchment formally. She looked over at her cousin, who had closed his eyes. "What does that mean, James?"

James said nothing, just threw his arm over his face. MJ sighed. She was never going to get anything out of him at this rate.

"What doesn't change anything? What did you do to Daisy?" she asked with a frown. "This is Daisy Finnigan we're talking about, right?"

Whatever MJ had said acted as the trigger. James brought his arm away from his face and punched his mattress vehemently. "What did I do to Daisy? What did _I _do?" he growled. "'Cos it has to be _my _fault, doesn't it? 'Cos it's _always _my fault! _She _couldn't have done anything wrong, could she?"

MJ was taken aback; she knew James had a temper, and had seen him lose it a few times, but this was different. This was anger, but not just anger. His voice seemed thick, almost as if…as if he was trying not to cry. MJ wanted to get to the bottom of it all, but knew she would have to tread carefully; she didn't want James to turn his temper on _her._

"Okay…" she began, wondering how to go about this. "Well, what did Daisy do then?"

"Don't say that name!" James roared, sitting up quickly, narrowly missing banging his head on the bunk above. He took a deep breath and lay back down slowly. "Don't…don't say that name. I don't want to hear that name." His voice was a hoarse whisper now.

MJ nodded, although she knew James couldn't see. "What did she do to you, Jamie?" she asked softly.

James laughed without any real humour. "What _didn't _she do?" he asked rhetorically. "She blew me off for Edward _effing _Nott, then she had the _cheek_ to turn around and tell me she never felt anything for me. _Never. _I never asked her to profess her undying love for me, but to not feel _anything_?_ Ever_?" He broke off.

MJ frowned. She was more confused than ever now. "James," she said carefully. "I think you need to tell me the whole story."

* * *

><p>Sam picked up one of the spare broomsticks and wondered how she had managed to be convinced into taking part. What Albus had failed to tell her was that they would be playing a friendly match against the adults, nearky all of whom had played the sport competitively at some point. The only comfort was that they would be playing one Chaser short; their usual Chaser, Charlie Weasley had disappeared off somewhere and would not be back until later.<p>

Sam had been chosen to play Keeper; since James was absent, and according to Albus it was "the easiest position to play".

"You don't even have to fly that much," he had told her reassuringly. "Just hover round the hoops and don't let the ball get past you."

"If it's that simple," Sam had grumbled, "then why do I need a helmet?"

Albus had simply chuckled and walked away. "Just in case," he said over his shoulder.

Sam scowled, and Lily, who had entered the broom shed to hear the final exchange, tutted and rolled her eyes. "He's an idiot," she said. "Don't let him annoy you."

The teams assembled on the field and stood around chatting until Hermione Weasley blew a whistle.

"Remember this is a friendly game," she began. She looked at the adults. "You guys, remember this is not a Hogwarts game, nor is it a national level game," she looked pointedly at Ginny Weasley, who grinned. "Remember you are playing against kids as young as eleven, I will not tolerate any foul play. From _either side. _Anyone I see playing too roughly will be removed from the game."

"Blimey, Hermione, way to suck the fun out of it!" Ron Weasley mumbled, earning himself a slap over the head from his wife.

"Behave," she said firmly. "I know how you all get about Quidditch."

Ron grinned and winked at Rose, who was playing Seeker. "Remember Harry here was the youngest Seeker in a century?" he said.

Rose smirked. "He's not so young now, though is he?" she replied. "Bet he hasn't ridden a broom in a while."

Harry chuckled, and Rose smiled back at him to let him know it was all friendly talk.

The game began and it wasn't long before the adults were iin the lead, thirty points to ten. Sam wasn't a terrible Keeper; she had had enough practice on a broom to be able to keep her balance, and knock the Quaffle away when it flew towards her, but lack of experience stopped her from being able to cover all three hoops effectively like Ron was doing at the other end. She suspected Ginny and Bill were going easy on her; Ginny had played professionally for a long time, so it was unlikely she would aim as badly as she had done on a few occasions this time.

Sam's team were not holding up too badly; Lily, Albus and George were pretty good Chasers. She had expected George and Lily to play well, but had been surprised at Albus' skill on a broom, he normally kept out of Quidditch at school, so Sam had assumed it was because he wasn't very good. He worked well with the team though, and had been the first to score for their team.

Hugo, on the other hand, was a hopeless Beater. The club hung heavy in his hand, and it was all he could do to stop overbalancing every time he took a swing at a Bludger. Fred did his best to keep an eye on both Bludgers, but that didn't stop one almost knocking Rose from her broom.

It wasn't long before the teams were level-pegging, and had forty points each. Sam saved two goals in a row, and had even managed to stop one with the tail end of her broom, much to her own surprise. Maybe Quidditch wasn't so bad after all, she mused as she watched Ron dive for the Quaffle at the other end.

Hermione called for a time-out after an hour and the fourteen brooms descended rapidly, to grab a share of the refreshments Molly Weasley had brought out for them.

"So, what did you think?" came a voice from behind her. It was, of course, albus.

Sam shrugged. "It's alright. Keeper's not as easy as you said it would be though," she said.

He laughed. "Nope, I guess not…but it's less tiring than Chaser, less dangerous than Beater, and less difficult than Seeker…it's the easiest. That's why James does it."

Sam felt her lips twitching into a grin, and fought to stop it. If she laughed, it would only encourage Albus to talk to her more, and all he did was irritste her. She decided to change the subject. "What's wrong with James anyway?" she asked.

He shrugged in response. "Who _ever_ knows what's wrong with James?" he replied. "Something silly, no doubt."

* * *

><p>MJ sat quietly on the bed, absorbing everything that James had told her. It had been an interesting story, quite emotionally charged for someone who had only recently turned sixteen. And yet, the most interesting thing of all was that somehow, not one person in her family knew about it.<p>

"So…" she began hesitantly, breaking the silence for the first time since James had finished speaking. "How is it that not one person, no one at all, knew what happened between you and D- …you and her?" she asked, honestly curious. It wasn't like the Potters or the Weasleys to keep secrets from each other, and even if they tried, you could barely move around the school without bumping into someone you were related to, especially if you were in Gryffindor, since the majority of them would be in the Common Room. MJ found it easier; if she wanted escape from her relatives, she could find relative comfort in the Sett, or the Hufflepuff Wing of the castle. There, she would only possibly find her sister, or until recently, Dominique. The Gryffindor Tower, on the other hand, was heaving with her relatives, so how James had managed to keep his relationship with Daisy Finnigan, another Gryffindor, was a mystery.

James let out a small, mirthless laugh. "Invisibility Cloak. Dad said I could have it this year."

MJ's eyes widened. She had heard about Uncle Harry's Invisibility Cloak, but she had assumed that he kept it locked away now, not given it to his children, least of all to James.

"I would use it to follow her out of the Common Room…no one would know she was with someone. If we were out late, I would use it to cover her too on the way back."

"So…you went out with her for a year?" MJ clarified. "And you didn't tell anyone? Why not?"

James ignored the question, seemingly wrapped up in his own thoughts now, and he continued talking. MJ stayed quiet and listened.

"She wasn't very nice to me, you know," he mumbled. "She used to tease me a lot. About being young and not understanding. She isn't even a whole year older than me, just a few months…five months…but she acts like she's so much older."

MJ nodded sympathetically. Daisy may only have been five months older than James, but it was enough for her to be in the school year above him. The same school year as Edward Nott, one of the notorious Slytherin Chasers.

"She used to talk about him a lot," James had explained. "I should have realised…but I thought she liked me. But she was seeing him behind my back. What does he have that I don't, MJ?" he asked abrubtly, sitting up and locking his eyes on hers. "what does he have? Money? I have that. Status? I have that…Quidditch? I have that…" he trailed off and lay back down again.

MJ frowned. "James…you don't…you don't want to get back with her, do you? After what she did?"

James snorted. "Course not. But…no, it's silly."

"No, it's not, Jamie…tell me."

"I just…" James took a deep breath. "I said some nasty things. I got angry. It made Quidditch practice so hard…for everyone. I thought…I thought if we won the game against Slytherin she wouldn't hate me so much. It didn't really work. I just…I don't want her to hate me anymore."

MJ bit her lip, feeling more than a little sorry for her favourite cousin. "Why should she hate you? Surely you should hate her for what she did?"

James shook his head fiercely. "I couldn't hate her even if I tried. I'm stupid." He sighed. "I even sent her a Christmas present, and an apology that we didn't end on a good note on the platform before the holidays. She…she sent it back."

"What was it?" MJ asked. She had seen the parcel, and wondered if James had sent her something personal, like jewellery. She held back her sigh of relief when he told her it was just candy. He picked up the parcel in question and threw it to her.

"Here, you have it, I don't want it. Happy Christmas," he said.

"Maybe you should just talk to her again, when we get back to school," MJ suggested. "Just let her know that you want to be able to talk to her again, just about general stuff, like you used to. Not talk about your relationships…with each other, with other people…just talk. Like you must have done before you got…well, involved."

James rolled over to face her, and he raised a dubious eyebrow. "D'you think that would work?"

MJ shrugged. "I have no idea. But if you really want to talk to her again, for whatever crazy reason, I would give it a go. You've tried everything then, and if it doesn't work…well, that's more her fault than yours."

James nodded, stopped for a little while to think it over, and then nodded again. "Okay," he said, sitting up. "Okay. Thanks MJ. And if you—"

"Tell anyone about anything you said, you'll kill me, I know," MJ said, and James flashed her a grin. "Now go on, they're playing Quidditch outside."

"Who's our Keeper?"

"No idea, but whoever it is probably nowhere near your standard," MJ said with a wink. "Go sort it out."

* * *

><p>Sam was the first to notice that James had come outside. She watched him walk over to where everyone was standing around chatting. He strode over and grinned, as if his anger this morning had not even happened.<p>

"So," he said breezily. "Who's Keeper?"

Hugo pointed at Sam. "She's not done a bad job. It's forty all, at the moment."

Sam handed her helmet to James. "Here," she said, thrusting it into his grasp. "I can tell you want to play."

"You don't want to play?" James clarified, although Sam could see his heart wasn't really in it; he wanted to take over as Keeper. She nodded.

"It's fine," she said.

She had almost turned back to the table for another sandwich when something else got pressed into her hand. It was Hugo's Beater club. She looked at him with an eyebrow raised.

"You have to be better than I am," was all Hugo said, and he disappeared into the house before Sam could catch him. Fred saw her holding the club and broke into a grin.

"Howdy, partner," he drawled in a terrible attempt at a cowboy's accent. Sam couldn't help but grin.

"That was lame," she said with a smile, lifting the bat from one hand to the other. "So, how do I use this thing?"

* * *

><p>Much to her surprise, Sam had taken quickly to the role of Beater. Like Keeper, it was a predominantly defensive position on the team, but with the added element of the ability to decide where the Bludgers went. She flew well with one hand, thanks to her practice as Keeper, and she worked well with Fred in protecting the players from the destructive boulder-like balls.<p>

Being a Beater was a bit like de-gnoming in a way; you had to act quickly and firmly, and yet aim at the same time. If you did it well, the Bludger would crack satisfyingly against the club before flying off in the direction you sent it.

The game ended with Sam's team leading with two hundred points to one hundred and twenty. All of the kids touched down grinning.

"We let you win," Ron said with a grin.

"_Sure_ you did, Dad," Rose threw back, waving the Snitch in her hand. "Personally I just think Uncle Harry needs new glasses!"

Everyone laughed and Harry winked at his niece. "Maybe you're right, Rosie," he said with a broad smile.

"Of course I'm right, I'm a Ravenclaw," Rose responded wittily, and was met by a large chorus of mock booing, and calls of "Gryffindor rules!"

"You're all just jealous!" Rose called back, and she followed her family back into the house, laughing.

* * *

><p>Sam placed her broom and bat back in the shed. She grinned to herself. Maybe playing Quidditch wasn't that bad, especially as a Beater.<p>

There was a rustle from behind her, and she spun around. There was nothing there. She was still alone in the broom shed. Shrugging, she removed her gloves and placed them in the box in the shed too.

There was a more noticeable sound this time, a scraping.

"Hello?" Sam called out, feeling a little stupid. This is what old horror movies were like, not real life.

Still, she couldn't help getting the feeling that something wasn't quite right.

A small smattering of dust fell from the ceiling, landing at Sam's feet. She looked up, not having any idea as to what she might see.

And yet, despite not knowing what to expect, she did not expect to see a small sparrow sitting on the beams above her head, looking down at her with a tilted head.

Sam let out a breath she hadn't realised she was holding. "Scared of a stupid bird," she muttered to herself. "I hope Mystery gets you," she said back to the sparrow as she left the shed. She didn't look back.

So she didn't see the sparrow turn into something altogether more…human.

* * *

><p>AN: Please don't leave without reviewing! What did you think? This was possibly my favourite chapter to write so far, and it manifested itself in only a few days, I enjoyed it so much. So PLEASE tell me what you think! x


	11. Chapter 11

_SO. Guys. Hi. I'll say sorry for being so slow but you probably don't wanna hear it. Before we start I have an IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT. _

_You remember __**MayFairy**__? You'd better, because I mention her like, every chapter. She was the original author of this story, before I adopted it. But GUESS WHAT? She's back on board this ship and we are now co-writing the story together cos we realised how well we work together. And considering we jointly discuss ideas for this story before I write it anyway, it makes perfect sense. So from here on, all chapters have been co-written by both __**MayFairy**__ and myself._

_THANK YOU GUYS FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT AND LOVE! HAVE SOME CHOCOLATE FROGS! (which are amazing by the way. I bought a small truckload of them when I went to the Harry Potter Studio Tour at Warner Bros.) Don't forget to review!_

**Chapter 11**

The days sped by and before they knew it, the New Year's celebrations were upon them. Sam had enjoyed her stay with Lily's extended family more than she had expected to; there was something about them that was warm and inviting, and she had been treated as if she was actually part of the extensive Weasley Clan.

She had interacted with each of the members on some level or another, and aside from the children she spent her time with at Hogwarts, Sam had found herself talking to MJ rather a lot more than she had expected. The two, despite being almost polar opposites, had managed to maintain the cordial relations they had established that morning in the summerhouse. They didn't talk on a regular basis but were happy to exchange pleasantries and occasionally would have longer conversations. MJ, being in her fourth year at Hogwarts, was happy to relay her experiences of lessons to Sam. She was an incredibly chatty girl once she got going, and Sam found it hard to get here head round the fact that she was the same person who greeted her with such animosity only a few weeks ago.

Lucy Weasley, on the other hand, was exceptionally meek and quiet, only really speaking when she was spoken to. She was your stereotypical Hufflepuff; mild mannered and not easily flustered. She was always ready with a warm smile, even if she didn't speak much. Sam couldn't help but think about the fact that Lucy would have been literally eaten alive in the childrens' home where she had grown up. Still, she was nice enough.

On the morning of New Years Eve, at breakfast, Sam received a quick owl from Carina, just to double-check that she was still coming to the sleepover, and to say how excited she was about it. As Sam read over the note, smirking at her friend's enthusiasm, Louis Weasley, who had reached across her to get some butter for his toast, glanced over the note and raised an eyebrow.

"You're going to Malfoy Manor tonight?" he said curiously, and Sam nodded.

"How did you not know about that, Lou?" MJ said with a roll of her eyes. "_Everyone_ knew about it, it's all Lily's been talking about all week! "

"Have not!" Lily protested, and everyone else at the table scoffed disbelievingly before laughing. Louis shook his head.

"How _did_ I miss out on this critical piece of knowledge?" He said, almost sarcastically. He looked back over to Sam. "I'll be at the ball tonight," he said casually.

That made everyone's ears perk up. "Wait, you're going to the Manor too?" MJ said with a furrowed brow.

"How did you not know about it, MJ? _Everyone _knew about it, it's all Lily's been talking about all week…" he said in a rather canny mimic of his cousin, while rolling his eyes good-naturedly.

"Oh, touché," MJ said flippantly. "Now, spill. How did you end up with an invite to the Ball? And how on _earth _did you manage to keep it a secret?"

Louis shrugged. "It was a last minute thing. I only got the invite yesterday; I am going to be Isabella's chaperone."

There was an outburst of exclamations and gasps.

"Isabella? As in Isabella _Peake_?" Albus said with an incredulous laugh. "How in the name of _Dumbledore_ did that happen?"

Every eye was fixed on Louis, and Sam was somewhat grateful that the attention had somewhat been shifted from her. She was tired of talking incessantly about the fact that she had been invited to a sleepover with Carina Malfoy and her friends.

Louis explained to the group, who were now listening with fervent interest, how Isabella Peake had been let down by her partner to the ball at the last minute, and he was her alternative.

"So you're going as her _date_?" MJ asked teasingly, and the group snickered.

"As if, MJ… in case you hadn't remembered, I'm taken," Louis said in a bored tone, although Sam glimpsed the brief sparkle in his eyes. Despite remembering that Lily had described Louis as "a bit of a prat" in their first week at Hogwarts, here, surrounded by family, he seemed in no way to be flustered by the constant teasing. He had always come across so unruffled and happy. She supposed it was because he was used to it, and he knew his family didn't mean it. The Weasleys very rarely had actual arguments, mostly just teasing and generally taking the mickey.

"It's probably another way for the Peakes to try and integrate themselves," Louis was explaining. "Mixing with the 'blood traitors', it will boost their status no end."

A few of the children around the table nodded knowingly but Sam frowned. "What do you mean?" she asked curiously. She couldn't wait for the day when she wouldn't have to keep asking for clarification on these things, but for now, if she was going to get anywhere, she would have to ask the questions.

Louis turned to Sam and began to explain, clearing his throat. Since the so-called "scandal" was over, James and MJ returned to their breakfasts, although Albus and Lily continued to intently listen to the conversation, despite already knowing the background of the Peake family.

"The Peake family is a well-known family with a famously pureblood ancestry, much like the Malfoys," Louis began. " In fact, they are second only to the Malfoys in terms of reputation and wealth. When Voldemort came into power the first time, they were very proud to flaunt their alliance to him, funding many of his attacks and also, we suspect, working on the inside of the Ministry to help him infiltrate there. However, when Uncle Harry defeated Voldemort the first time, like most of the Death Eaters, the Peakes disappeared into the woodwork, nowhere to be seen, keeping quiet."

"And when Voldemort came back?" Sam prompted. She knew how the story went; they had studied it in History of Magic back in October. "Did they re-join the Death Eaters?"

Louis hummed. "Officially, no they didn't; but anyone directly involved in trying to stop the Death Eaters would have seen that there was definitely Peake involvement. Money transfers, a lot of secret owls…things like that. I wouldn't be surprised if the Peake Mansion was used as a base for a little while before moving to the Malfoys."

"Did they get punished?"

Smiling ruefully, Louis shook his head. "There was no conclusive evidence, really. Besides, there were people of greater importance to try, and the courts were overflowing," he explained. "But it was all a long time ago, the families have tried to rebuild themselves and move on. The Malfoys, for example, have completely turned it around; they play a huge role in the wizarding community now, with Mr Malfoy a notable Healer, Mrs Malfoy is a very respectable woman in society, and the kids are growing up to be pretty decent too."

Sam nodded as she processed this information. There was a lot of politics in the wizarding society that she thought was unnecessarily complicated. Other people could bother with it if they wanted, assessing people based on their families' history, but Sam preferred to judge people on face value. Carina Malfoy was nice to her, so Sam was nice back. It was much simpler that way.

"Have you finished your food yet, Sam?" Lily poked her friend in the arm, causing Sam to flick her in the skull in response.

"Yes," she sighed in a long-suffering fashion.

"Then come _on_," Lily pulled the blonde to her feet. "We have to go get you ready."

With a roll of her eyes, Sam allowed herself to be dragged from the kitchen, leaving Albus at the table, sniggering at her expense.

As Sam packed her small overnight bag she overheard a familiar voice in the hallway drifting up the stairs.

"Hello there, Mrs Potter," the familiar voice said, and Sam scrunched her brow trying to place it. She left her room and peered over the banister. She spied the chestnut-brown hair and realised that Professor Gilbert, the Flying Instructor was at the Burrow. As for why, she had no idea.

"I was wondering if Lily was around?" the professor asked politely. Ginny looked upstairs and Sam quickly pulled her head back.

"She should be upstairs," Ginny replied. "I'll go and fetch her for you. She's not in trouble, is she?" she added with a frown.

"No, no, no, not at all," Gilbert smiled. "Quite the opposite, in fact."

Twenty minutes later, Lily burst into the little bedroom where Sam was sat on her bed re-reading her letter from Annie.

"Sam! Guess what?" she said, a tad breathlessly.

'What?"

"Daisy Finnigan wants me to try out for the team after Christmas!" she squealed.

Sam smiled at Lily's beaming face and then frowned. "Wait…but tryouts already happened," she said. "The team's full."

Lily's face dropped a bit. "Yeah, it's bad news, I guess…you know Sophia Kent? She's had to resign from the team. Injury or something; Gilbert was a bit vague. And since Pauline, the sub Chaser is away til March…well, Daisy said I could try out for the place. I might not get it, but I can try!"

The grin was well and truly back on Lily's face as she swept Sam into a huge hug. The blonde girl chuckled.

"Well, we'll be rooting for you, Lils," she said with a small smile. It was great to have a friend like Lily.

The fireplace in the entrance hall of Malfoy Manor flared into life with emerald flames as a tall figure appeared and stepped out, only to be followed by a smaller person who was coughing from the smoke produced.

"I still don't know if I like Floo powder…" Sam spluttered as her throat cleared. She shook ash out of her hair and looked up at Louis expectantly. "So what now?"

"I imagine they'll know we're here," Louis said, and sure enough, at the top of a large, ornate staircase, Carina emerged with a large smile on her face.

"Hey, Sam, Louis!" She called out before racing down the stairs. "Look, just leave your stuff there for now, we'll come back for it. Sam, I thought you could just quickly meet my family first, and then we can go upstairs. For adults, they're not so bad. And Louis, Isabella should be down in a minute."

She gave the older boy a slight nod, which was returned with good grace. Carina turned back to Sam and smiled broadly.

After a moment's hesitation, Sam dropped her small bag of overnight gear and allowed Carina to lead her through to a living room full of chatting parents. The number of adults made Sam ever so slightly uncomfortable, as she wasn't used to being surrounded by so many older people at once. A younger part of her found it threatening but she tried to block it out, because obviously they weren't people trying to manipulate her life like most adults she had dealt with in the past had, they were merely people kind enough to welcome her into their home for the night.

"Dad, this is Sam, Sam McCarty," Carina said as they came into the room, and an attractive older man with sleeked blonde hair looked up with interest.

"An 'excuse me, Dad' wouldn't go amiss, Carina," Her father said wryly, and the Slytherin girl flushed at having forgotten her usually near impeccable manners.

"Of course, sorry Dad."

"So you're the Gryffindor Carina's mentioned to me a couple of times, are you?" The man regarded Sam with cordial interest, his grey eyes skimming over her, taking in her usual t-shirt and jeans (or as he probably saw them, Muggle clothes), and short hair. "Can't say I was friends with many Gryffindors while I was at school…course, it was a different time, and I was a total prick back then-"

The dark-haired woman next to him who was presumably his wife shushed him. "Language in front of guests, Draco!" Draco rolled his eyes and Sam found herself chuckling a little, somehow taking to the man just a little, as she tended to do with most who used language others deemed foul. Derogatory words just tended to make her more comfortable in situations such as the current one, though she was never quite sure why.

"Really, erm, Mrs Malfoy, I've heard a lot worse, most of them directed at me, so don't worry about it," The young girl said quickly, and Carina's mother raised an eyebrow before nodding slowly.

"Well, thank you, Sam, but it's often the principle of the thing. My husband should know better."

Sam frowned a little, unsure of what the statement was supposed to mean, but luckily Carina chose that moment to smile at her family and excuse them from the room.

"Sorry about my dad, he likes to swear a lot but Mum tells him off for it…Scorpius follows his lead though, he swears like a sailor!" Carina said as they grabbed Sam's bags and made for the upstairs bedrooms. The Gryffindor couldn't help but let her eyes take in the grandeur of the house, as it was like nothing she had ever seen before. Sure, the Potter's place but nice, but this was a real mansion.

Carina brought Sam through an open door which lead into the most beautiful bedroom Sam had ever seen. It was an old classic design that made it seem as though it belonged in a Jane Austen movie, but with the addition of Quidditch and musician posters over the wooden walls. Despite it being a little girly for Sam's tastes, it was impressive all the same.

"Sam, this is Bella and Stephanie Greengrass, my cousins, and Francesa Fletcher, and Elise Blackwater. You know Tristan already, of course," Carina introduced everyone, and upon hearing the last name, Sam's eyes flicked to the corner of the room where Tristan was sitting with his nose in a book. After acknowledging her with a slight nod, his eyes flicked back down to the pages in front of him. It wasn't as if she cared, his constant aloof manner irritated her anyway.

Sam dumped her bag where Carina directed before awkwardly sitting on it. A sleepover had sounded so simple, but all these strangers…she wasn't intimidated, not in the least, just unsure of what to say.

"So…this might sound like a weird question, but where's the Slytherin common room?" She asked, when unable to think of anything else, and frowned a little when all the girls laughed. Even Tristan was smirking a little.

"In the dungeons," One of the twins said with a smile, "When you lot just get a tower, which is a lot less mysterious."

"At least we have windows," Sam retorted, and Carina laughed. "You lot are all too pale for your own good."

"Even me?" Elise inquired dryly, and it only took Sam one glance at the girl's dark skin and hair to chuckle a bit.

"I think you're the exception."

After that the conversation seemed to flow a bit easier, and it was nice to find that in general all the Slytherin girls were nice enough, with decent senses of humour too. Stephanie seemed a little haughty initially, but after half an hour or so had warmed up considerably.

It wasn't until the conversation moved onto the latest scandal between some Slytherins several years above came up in conversation that Sam's interest began to wane. She managed to slip away to sit next to Tristan without the others noticing, and he glanced up for a moment before warily going back to reading.

Following her observing the title of the book, she smiled a bit. "Swiss Family Robinson, huh? I'd have thought that Muggle books wouldn't really be a Slytherin thing."

"Contrary to what you might think, we're not all a bunch of Muggle-hating snobs…now who's being assuming?" Tristan said, almost irritably, and Sam backpedaled partially.

"Sorry. I'm not criticising, you know, I've heard that book is a lot like Robinson Crusoe. You should read it when you're done with this one, it's good," She tried to amend, and after a moment of watching her unfathomably, he nodded and a small smile graced his face.

"Okay, thanks," He said slowly. "You don't come across as a book person."

"I'm not…it's the only book I've ever read apart from textbooks," Sam told him flatly in a way that made him chuckle a bit.

"Well, that makes a lot more sense," He noted reasonably. After a moment, Sam asked the question she had been meaning to ask since she had entered the room.

"So, why are you here?" Tristan lifted an eyebrow, and she immediately added, "You're the only guy here, it seems kinda weird."

Tristan made a face. "Trust me, I don't want to be here. Spending this evening with a bunch of girls isn't my idea of fun. But since our family is so close to the Malfoys, here I am."

Sam nodded slowly. "Right."

At that moment, the door slammed open to reveal Scorpius Malfoy standing in the hallway, and he immediately beckoned to the one male in the room. "Come on, Peake, come spend some time away from all the girls."

Tristan immediately shut his book and got up, shooting Scorpius a hesitant grin. "I thought you'd never ask." He gave an awkward wave to the girls.

"I'd be sad, but it's not as if you've said much anyway," Carina joked, and he rolled his eyes before following Scorpius out.

Carina sprawled out elegantly over her bed. "So, Sam…you grew up with Muggles, right?"

"Yep," Sam said as she moved to sit back in the circle of girls, "You guys have it a lot better."

"Well _duh_," Stephanie commented with a roll of her green eyes, earning her raised eyebrows from Carina and Sam almost simultaneously.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sam asked, the tiniest hint of anger crawling into her tone.

Stephanie shifted a little on her mattress. "Don't go giving me dirty looks, you're the one who said it."

"I said that you lot have better lives, I meant that magic makes it better for all of you…I never said that you were better people," The tone of Sam's voice was low as she shot the other girl a glare, "Until you respect Muggles as well, it doesn't make any difference how many Muggle-borns you accept."

Bella chose that moment to interrupt. "I think both of you need to realise something quite simple. Muggles aren't beneath us, and a lot of us know it. But it's a fact that muggles wish for magical solutions to their problems and then refuse to believe in magic."

Sam watched her for a moment, deciding, before giving a small nod. "Yeah, but not every muggle wants a magical solution. Before I found out about magic, I didn't expect anyone other than myself to solve my problems, and there are a lot of others who are the same, especially in the circles I was in."

"I think Sam, that in either world, you're rather unique," Carina said with a light laugh, "Not everyone is as tough as you."

"I'm realising that, aren't I?" Sam rolled her eyes playfully, and any tension in the room lifted. "But I'm pretty sure that you wanted to know what it's like with Muggles, so ask away."

"Muggles have those telephone things, don't they?" Elise interjected eagerly, and Sam immediately laughed at her expression. "They sound so strange…how can you talk to someone all the way across the world without magic? Don't they sound like they're right next to you?"

"I…suppose, I'd never really thought about it that much," Sam frowned a little before shrugging. "Say what you want about Muggles, but they have come up with a lot of good replacements for magic."

"Is there anything you miss? From the Muggle world, I mean," Carina asked curiously, and Sam thought about it for a moment.

"Yeah, I miss the music players," She answered, "They could play music wherever you went…I could never really afford one, but the woman who kept an eye on us sometimes let me borrow hers, if I didn't cause too much trouble."

"How could they play music wherever you went?"

"You just pushed a button and it would start playing, it was great because you could just put both headphones in and turn up the volume until you'd blocked out the whole world," Sam recalled, "It was nice."

"Sounds wicked," Francesca said appreciatively, and the others nodded, even Stephanie.

Sam wriggled in her position to get a little more comfortable. Oddly perhaps, she felt very at ease with these girls. Not as comfortable as she had become with her Gryffindor dorm-mates but she had no reason to dislike these girls. Except maybe Stephanie, but there was always one.

The girls sat and chatted for a while longer, occasionally stopping to see what they could hear from the ballroom downstairs. One by one, they fell asleep, until Carina and Sam were the only two awake.

"I'm glad you came, Sam," Carina said quietly. "It's been really good having you here."

"Thanks for inviting me," Sam replied with a small smile.

"And people told me Gryffindors and Slytherins couldn't be friends…"

"They were talking out of their armpit," Sam said with a roll of her eyes. "Your house shouldn't make a difference."

"I know," the Malfoy girl replied. "I just wish everyone saw that. Times have changed. There's no need to hate each other."

Sam nodded. Carina Malfoy was a decent girl, despite what she had heard about the Malfoy family from the Potters and Weasleys. Maybe Lily would be able to see her viewpoint on this one day.


End file.
